Center for American Progress Center for American Progress
Issues › National Security › U.S. Military

Jets or GIs? How Best to Address the Military's Manpower Shortage

By Lawrence J. Korb, Peter Ogden | October 26, 2006

In December 2004, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was asked by a soldier why U.S. troops in Iraq were not properly equipped for their mission. Rumsfeld responded that "you have to go to war with the army you have, not the army you want." Rather than resolve anything, however, the secretary's explanation only begged two further and fundamental questions about the U.S. armed forces: What kind of military does the country really want? And if it does not have it, how can it get it?

Read mere here.

This article was originally published in Foreign Affairs.

To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:

For print, John Neurohr, Deputy Press Secretary
202.481.8182 or jneurohr@americanprogress.org

For radio, Andrea Purse, Deputy Director of Media Strategy
202.446.8429 or apurse@americanprogress.org

For TV, Sean Gibbons, Director of Media Strategy
202.682.1611 or sgibbons@americanprogress.org

For web, Erin Lindsay, Online Marketing Manager
202.741.6397 or elindsay@americanprogress.org

Related Articles

Aid for the Future, by Reuben Brigety

Moving Beyond the Carter Doctrine: The U.S. Military Presence in the Persian Gulf, by Lawrence J. Korb

Humanity as a Weapon of War, by Reuben Brigety

Support the Troops?, by Scott Lilly

Remembering General William E. Odom, by Lawrence J. Korb

Also by Lawrence J. Korb

Moving Beyond the Carter Doctrine: The U.S. Military Presence in the Persian Gulf, July 29, 2008

Contrasting Goals in Iraq, July 20, 2008

The U.S. Air Force's Indifference Toward Nuclear Weapons, June 17, 2008

Also by Peter Ogden

G8 Must Consider the Security Risks of Global Warming, June 30, 2008

Warming Ties, May 2, 2008

Pentagon Faces a Battle on Climate Change, February 13, 2008