US military budget: How would you change it?

[giblets]

Army fights on land
Navy fights on water
Airforce fights in the air
Marines fight on... land? They're just a miniature army with an ego problem. They're redundant.

[giblets]

If we need an elite fighting force for something, we could always beg our Canadian allies for help.

[Al B. Sure!]

The Marines are hardly the best fighting force on the planet.

The Canadian Forces are more elite. THEY DO CROSSFIT.

As does the Marine Corps.

[Asher]

If we need an elite fighting force for something, we could always beg our Canadian allies for help.

[Asher]

As does the Marine Corps.

Only recently. Always one step behind the Canadians. Let the Canadians go in first, do the hard stuff, then the Marines will follow.

[giblets]

As General Amos said a few months back before the House Armed Services Committee:



Wikipedia says 4% so I'm assuming General Amos is including the cost of support from the Navy in that 8.5%.

The US gets its most bang for its buck with the Corps.

31% of ground forces for 8.5% of the budget? How the hell do you not think the Corps is a veritable budget steal?

I thought you admitted that the rely on the navy for support?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

If we need an elite fighting force for something, we could always beg our Canadian allies for help.

We already learned that red coats are easy targets. Who needs the freakin mounties?

Bunch of dudley do rights.

[Asher]

The Marines are like child bullies...sure they will fight, but they still rely on mommy and daddy to get them places and kiss their boo-boos to make it all better.

[Asher]

We already learned that red coats are easy target. Who needs the freakin mounties?

Bunch of dudley do rights.

The mounties are more akin to our FBI, who also just happen to do rural policing in the absence of a metropolitan police force.

I'd take a mountie over an FBI agent in a fight any day.

[Jon Miller]

I personally would beef up intelligence and space, decrease army and 'standard air force', probably increase Navy a bit.

I guess probably leave Marines the same.

I am thinking ~15 active CVs instead of our current ~10.

I would drop a lot of our fighters/other planes. Focus more on space.
Remove ground attack planes (job of the Navy).
Keep bombers at the current level, no new ones.
Remove a lot of tactical fighters, especially older ones (since we already have the F22 and F35). No new ones...
Lower the other planes.

30B for Marines (from 29B)
10B for Army (from 244B)
225B for Navy (from 150B)
175B for Air Force (from 171B)
100B for Intelligence (from 50B)
100B for general Defense (from 119B)
= 640B

I think that trying to cut more than 100B would be a mistake due to shocking the system.

JM

[Al B. Sure!]

I thought you admitted that the rely on the navy for support?

Didn't I just say that since the Corps only accounts for 4% of the budget directly from the DoD budget that General Amos' 8.5% is probably including the cost of the support the Corps receives from the Navy?

How much is the cost of medical support? Is it over twice the cost of the Corps' operational budget? Seems too high but hey, Gen. Amos says 8.5%. The Corps has its own logistics, supply, finance, recruiting, etc.

The Marine Corps is renowned for its budget frugality, use of Army hand-me-downs, etc. It should not be surprising that the Corps is more effective with its budget than the other branches.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Only recently. Always one step behind the Canadians. Let the Canadians go in first, do the hard stuff, then the Marines will follow.

i stand corrected fodder and air force bomb markers

[giblets]

1) Kill the Marines
2) Kill the Navy as a whole. Mind your own ****ing business, stay in your own coastal waters.
3) Reduce the Army
4) Reduce the Air Force



From Jon's numbers:

0B for Marines (from 29B)
100B for Army (from 244B)
0B for Navy (from 150B)
100B for Air Force (from 171B)
50B for Intelligence (from 50B)
50B for general Defense (from 119B)
= 300B, vs the 763B you pay now

Maybe the navy could hold onto 50 billion. That still cuts the budget in half.

[Asher]

i stand corrected fodder and air force bomb markers

Yes, the American forces are historically quite skilled at locating and bombing the Canadian forces actually on the ground doing the dirty work.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Redcoats