Mark Thompson of Time Magazine on Where Are the New Recruits?
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld–who has long opposed a permanent hike in the Army's 500,000-strong active-duty force–made himself scarce as these troubling indicators surfaced. The Defense chief has argued that retooling the Army–turning cooks and accountants into trigger pullers and hiring contractors to perform such civilian tasks, among other steps–should generate efficiencies that would ease the strain on the Army without having to boost its size. But other Pentagon officials doubt that such measures will suffice. "We're growing increasingly concerned about the health of the force," an Army personnel officer says. "These deployments are really beginning to take a toll."
Outside observers agree. "The Army's wheels are going to come off in the next 24 months," Barry McCaffrey, a retired four-star Army general, said last week. "The data are now beginning to come in to support that." McCaffrey said the service needs to add 80,000 troops to ease the strain brought on by the Iraq war. "We are in a period of considerable strategic peril," he said. "And it's because Rumsfeld has dug in his heels and said, 'I cannot retreat from my position.'"
Umm – toldyaso.