U.S.

Decline In U.S. Military Might?

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 29, 1998 / 6:16 PM EDT / CBS

For the first time in a generation, the Joint Chiefs of Staff warned Congress that the military is in decline and in danger of going into a nosedive, reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin.

"In my view, the plane has nosed over and our readiness is starting to descend," said Gen. Henry Shelton, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Although units in the Persian Gulf and Korea remain in a high state of readiness, the backup forces are starting to crumble.

Warplanes based in the U.S. have suffered a 50 percent decline in readiness. The Navy's aircraft accident rate has nearly doubled. The U.S. is in no danger of losing a war, but the price of victory is going up.

"The U.S. will prevail but it will in fact take us more time and that time of victory will mean that we will lose terrain that we subsequently have to regain," said Gen. Shelton. "It means that our casualties to the U.S. will be higher."

Military spending has gone down while the pace of operations has gone up. Bosnia alone is costing $2 billion a year.

Congress has made matters worse by forcing the military to buy unwanted hardware -- which keeps assembly lines open in their districts -- and by refusing to close unneeded bases which provide jobs.

The Chiefs have known all that, but admit they misread the warning signs.

"We in some sense were seduced into thinking things may have been better than they are," said the Navy's Admiral Jay Johnson. "It's over. We're down at the bottom of the glide slope now."

The defense budget for the fiscal year starting October 1st is expected to be $270 billion. But the chiefs say they need about $16 billion more and that's not counting increases in pay and retirement benefits for the troops.