Hi Steve,

Dan’s recent alert letter outlining the tremendous amount of military surplus equipment that is now up for sale/auction dovetails exactly with the letter I sent you a few weeks ago regarding the transition of the US military to an Expeditionary Force. By definition, Expeditionary Forces are light and mobile….however, they are not built for protracted or heavy combat operations. Thus, the shedding of “unnecessary equipment” that Dan describes makes perfect sense.

The US military’s foundational change from at Theater-Based Force to a Threat-Based Force was/is by design--- and brings with it risks that most Americans do not yet comprehend. In general, I believe the US public has a “frozen” image of US capabilities. We still imagine we can successfully conduct two wars in two different theaters of operations as we did in WW II. This is not even remotely true….unless we are willing to resort to nuclear weapons and then accept the probability that these weapons will be used against us as well.

Nor, can we rest on the illusion that our technological superiority will compensate for our diminishing force structure. The harsh reality is, the technology-gap between the “military haves” and the “military have-nots” has shrunk dramatically. The US Donald Cook incident should be a wake-up call to everyone. I am convinced the US Navy, is taking the situation very seriously. I am not sure the rest of our government is. I would feel much better if there were urgent concern (as we saw during the Sputnik era) rather than the seeming complacency I see now.

Your Friend In Christ, BRIGADIER GENERAL GREG-RETIRED

Jan 3, 2015