How many SF teams for the price of a carrier?

[Jo Sul]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/....ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon Friday announced plans to significantly increase special operations forces, expand psychological warfare and develop a program to counter biological terrorism as part of a new broad-based military strategy for the 21st century.

The plan comes three days before President Bush sends Congress a 2007 budget that seeks a nearly 5 percent increase in Defense Department spending, to $439.3 billion, with significantly more for weapons programs, according to senior Pentagon officials and documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Under the long-range plan, called the Quadrennial Defense Review, the Pentagon will increase special operations forces by 15 percent, including the establishment for the first time of a Marine Corps commando unit. And there will be a one-third increase -- or a jump of 3,700 -- in troops assigned to psychological warfare and civil affairs units.

There also will be a new $1.5 billion program to develop medical countermeasures for bioterrorism threats.

The plan will reduce the number of Minuteman III land-based nuclear missiles from 500 to 450, and calls for the conversion of a small number of nuclear missiles aboard Trident submarines to non-nuclear ballistic missiles.

The long-range strategy document outlines broad plans to reshape the military into a more agile fighting force better able to fight terrorism, while still preserving the ability to wage large conventional wars.

The document, more than a year in the making, refers to the terrorism fight as the Long War.

The review, which does not call for the elimination of any of the largest weapons programs, as initially expected, will guide how dollars are spent within the Pentagon budget.

"Now in the fifth year of this global war, the ideas and proposals in this document are provided as a roadmap for change, leading to victory," said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, in an accompanying letter. This represents the second four-year review that Rumsfeld has led during his tenure heading the department.

As part of the effort to shift the focus of the military toward more non-traditional terrorist enemies, the plan calls for doubling the procurement of unmanned aircraft, particularly for surveillance; calls for the development of a new long-range strike system, as a greater deterrent against future threats and stresses the need to build strong partnerships both with other nations and other U.S. government agencies.

The plan also recommends reducing the number of Navy aircraft carriers from from 12 to 11, a proposal rejected by Congress last year.

[Blueboy]

It's not the price tag, it's the people. I'd be very interested to see how USASFC and SWC plan to stand up these 5 new SF battalions without lowering the standards. I still carry a card in my wallet emblazoned with the "SOF Truths"----
----Humans are more important than hardware.

----SOF cannot be mass produced.

----Quality is better then quantity.

----Competent SOF cannot be created after emergencies occur.

These are drilled into every SF soldier's (and for that matter SEAL, Ranger, STS, etc) head during his journey through the pipeline. I don't mean to be a nay-sayer, but I can't help but think that we are abandoning the very things that made us great for the interests of political expediency. I hope I'm wrong. Thoughts?

[Spartan359]

The plan also recommends reducing the number of Navy aircraft carriers from from 12 to 11, a proposal rejected by Congress last year.

Interesting. I was told that my old ship the USS Kitty Hawk was being decomomissioned when she turns 50. They already have a replacement for her as well. It was my understanding that none of the carriers being developed now would be ready in time to maintain our twelve carrier fleet. I don't wish to violate any OPSEC rules with who she is being replaced by and when. But if anyone is interested PM me.