(UnitedVoice.com) – For the last 10 years, the Heritage Foundation has issued an annual report about the state of the US military. The conservative think tank pulls no punches in its reports, and the 2024 one was no different. For the second year in a row, it painted a dire picture of the Armed Services under President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s leadership.
Index of Military Strength
On January 24, the organization released the Index of US Military Strength. It rated the US Military as “weak” for the second year in a row. According to the study, the US Armed Forces are not equipped to protect the country’s national interests. Worse, the report found the military is at a major risk of not being able to meet the demands of a single conflict and attend to its other national security needs.
The report breaks down how each of the service branches is doing — and it’s not going well.
Navy
According to the report, the Navy should have a force of 400 manned ships to carry out the duties necessary in this day and age. However, the branch only has a fleet of 291 ships. When one of those ships breaks or has some other issue, the Navy isn’t able to repair them in a timely manner.
The Heritage Foundation ranked Navy readiness as “weak.”
Army
The Army has been battling a major recruitment problem. As a result, it only has about two-thirds the number of soldiers it needs to handle multiple regional conflicts. As a result, the force is shrinking in size, and it hasn’t been able to modernize its branch quickly enough.
The Army was ranked as “marginal.”
Air Force
Of all five military branches, the Air Force is in the worst shape. If the US got into a major conflict, it would need approximately 1,200 combat-coded, active-duty fighter aircraft. Right now, the branch only has 897. As a result, the Air Force would have trouble responding to a single conflict.
The Foundation rated the Air Force as “very weak.”
Space Force
The newest military branch is the Space Force, and it is not doing well. Not only is the branch unable to meet the current warfighter requirements, it appears its not able to meet future needs either. There’s no indication that the Space Force has made any improvements to its readiness since 2019.
As a result, experts rated the Space Force as “marginal.”
Marines
The Marine Corps is the one military branch that is doing well. In 2021, the force was labeled as “marginal” but managed to pull its readiness score up to “strong” the very next year. Since then, the Marines have maintained their “strong” score. That’s because it continues to modernize its force.
The Marines are rated “strong.”
White House Response
A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council issued a statement to Fox News Digital stating the Biden administration is “committed to ensuring the [US] military remains capable of” beating any adversary. He went on to say the US has the “strongest, most professional, and most capable fighting force in the world.”
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