Title A "hollow army" reappraised : President Carter, defense budgets, and the politics of military readiness / Frank L. Jones

Published Carlisle, PA : Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 2012

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Description 1 online resource (ix, 65 pages) Series Letort papers ; [no. 54] Letort papers ; no. 54. Contents Setting the stage -- What does hollow mean? -- Carter's defense policy -- Carter's defense budgets -- Recruiting the all-volunteer force -- Assessing readiness -- Modernizing the force -- Contextualizing the "hollow army" -- Neutral competency and the "hollow army" -- Interpreting the "hollow army." Summary For more than 3 decades, the term "hollow army" or the more expansive idiom, "hollow force," has represented President Carter's alleged willingness to allow American military capability to deteriorate in the face of growing Soviet capability. The phrase continues to resonate today. In this current period of declining defense resources, the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have articulated how the newly released strategic guidance and budget priorities signify a concerted effort not to "hollow out" U.S. forces. They have affirmed their dedication to preventing the recreation of the ragged military and disastrous deterioration in defense capability the Carter administration allowed to occur. However, it is also time to reexamine the term "hollow army" and its meaning as the inevitable tug of war over defense spending gets underway. This Paper places the "hollow army" metaphor within its historical context: barely 5 years after the United States finally disengaged from a major war (Vietnam), a struggling economy, and an election year in which a President was not only tenuously leading in the polls, but also confronted substantial opposition from elements of his own political party. Over the years, a specific political reading of these events has taken hold. It is the purpose of this Paper to re-read the historical events, and in doing so, come to a better understanding of the domestic political and geostrategic environment during Carter's presidency, the U.S. Cold War strategy, and the assertions made concerning the readiness of the U.S. Army to perform its missions Notes "October 2012." Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 51-65) Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL Print version record digitized 2018 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Subject Carter, Jimmy, 1924- -- Military leadership SUBJECT Carter, Jimmy, 1924- fast (OCoLC)fst00031823 Subject United States. Army -- Operational readiness -- History -- 20th century United States. Army -- Appropriations and expenditures -- History -- 20th century United States. Army -- Organization -- History -- 20th century SUBJECT United States. Army. fast (OCoLC)fst00533532 Subject Command of troops. Armed Forces -- Appropriations and expenditures. Armed Forces -- Operational readiness. Armed Forces -- Organization. Military policy. Väpnade styrkor. Försvarspolitik. Försvarskostnader. SUBJECT United States -- Armed Forces -- Operational readiness -- History -- 20th century United States -- Armed Forces -- Appropriations and expenditures -- History -- 20th century United States -- Armed Forces -- Organization -- History -- 20th century United States -- Military policy. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140379 Subject United States. Genre/Form History. Form Electronic book Author Army War College (U.S.). Strategic Studies Institute.

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