Politico | US lawmakers urge Pentagon to be choosy when deploying troops
- 14 House members warn that overextension now will degrade long-term readiness and modernisation efforts needed to counter rising threats like China
- Combatant commanders, the lawmakers say, ‘have few incentives to be frugal’ in requesting extra forces, which risks overtaxing the military services
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Connor O’Brien on politico.com on April 5, 2021.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging Pentagon leaders to be more exacting in approving commanders’ requests for additional forces, warning that the overextension of personnel and resources now will degrade long-term military readiness and modernisation efforts needed to counter rising threats such as China.
What they said: In a letter on Monday to Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks, 14 House lawmakers argued “there is a need for increased prudence and scrutiny” in approving requests for forces made by combatant commanders that fall outside the Global Force Management Allocation Plan, a Pentagon blueprint that allocates forces to the commands.
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Combatant commanders, they warned, “have few incentives to be frugal” in requesting extra forces, which risks overtaxing the military services and hindering their efforts to adapt to competing with great power nations such as Russia and China if the Pentagon approves the requests.
They slammed a “near-limitless” number of combatant command requests for forces in recent years.
“The ‘tyranny of the now’ is wearing out man and machine at too high a rate to ensure success both now and later,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Future readiness can no longer be sacrificed at the altar of lower-priority requirements.”