Read the most recent CSIS research on U.S. military force structure.
At current budgetary levels modernization is a third priority behind rebuilding readiness and maintaining force structure. Additionally, any increase in budget will be unlikely to help resolve this challenge. This report reviews the army modernization challenge.
Although addressed in the Goldwater-Nichols Act, the question of how much power the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is reemerging. Now in a fiercely partisan environment, Congress should take caution as they reconsider the question.
This inaugural report in the Defense Outlook Series looks back at what happened in 2015, specifically with respect to strategy and the security environment, the debate in Congress over the defense budget and force structure, and changes in the acquisition system, and looks ahead to what these developments may mean in 2016 and beyond.