The Government Accountability Office, in a just released report on DOD’s management of military force structure, suggests that one way the Pentagon could provide more personnel to meet Army needs is to “reassign and retrain available personnel for high-demand Army skills” from within the Army and within the other services. (The other services are already providing what is termed “in lieu of” troops to supplement the Army.) And, the report notes that Joint Forces Command has identified “over 200,000 reservists from all the services’ reserve components” that “could be potentially available” for such retraining. GAO does point out, though, that this maneuver would shortchange missions of the other services, not to mention playing havoc with service-specific training and recruiting and retention. No kidding.
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…