Bigger is Not Better: Plans to Grow Military

Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are pushing legislation that would dramatically increase the size of the military. Advocates of the bill claim that forces are spread too thin due to deployments abroad in places like Afghanastan, Iraq, Europe, etc. But, Pentagon has repeatedly said that the armed forces are not efficiently using the personnel they have no so adding additional bodies would not be an effective solution to those concerns.

The proposed bill in the House of Representatives would:

• add 40,000 troops to the Army, bringing active duty rolls to 522,400
• increase the size of the Air Force by 28,700 to 388,000 troops
• grow the Marine Corp form 175,000 to 190,000 troops

There does not seem to be any report with an estimated cost for the additonal troops, but USA Today did say that adding 2,400 troops to the Army last year cost $68 million.

USA Today reports.