Military spending cries out for reform

I agree with Victor Darst of West Dundee on the need to cut military spending. I am certainly supportive of our men and women in the military, and the need to give them as much emotional and military support as possible. They always do an outstanding job under the most difficult of conditions, and I am not encouraging any cuts in that area.

But simply put, after cuts in entitlement spending, defense spending certainly has the most inefficiencies of any government agency, and I agree with the tea party folks that DOD spending has to be cut if we are to successfully cut federal spending. I don’t have any specifics but here are a few examples.

We have four huge Air Force bases in San Antonio. Do we really need that many in one community? Of course not, but try to get the senators and congressmen in Texas to make any cuts there.

We have 359,000 military personnel stationed outside the United States. This includes 54,000 in Germany and 10,000 in the United Kingdom. Who are we protecting the Germans and the English from? I realize there is a military hospital in Germany and other essential items there, but do we really need 64,000 U.S. military in those two countries? Of course not.

We have at least one military base in virtually every state in the United States, in some cases several. Are all those bases needed? I would assume they are not, but try getting a congressman or senator to cut or even reduce the size of any bases in his or her state.

I am not an expert in military spending, but those are three areas that seem very inefficient to me. And in an era where federal spending must be cut if we are to save this country, those examples demonstrate that military spending cries out for reform, just like entitlements do.

Gary Koca

Pingree Grove