Bob McCarty Writes

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ryan Wicks

Extended Christmas vacations might be in store for members of the U.S. military if President-elect Barack Obama gets his way and, in keeping with his stated plans to drastically cut defense spending, research and capabilities, guts the military.

I make this prediction after reading a recent BBC report from “Down Under” that offers a foreshadowing of what the United States military might look like soon.

According to that report, most of Australia’s navy is to be given two months off over Christmas as part of a new strategy to cope with crew shortages.  Though backers of the vacation plan claim it will not impact operations, others say it constitutes an admission that the government has failed to recruit enough sailors.  As a former U.S. Air Force officer, I lean toward the latter.

That in mind, I predict recruiting numbers for branches of the U.S. military will decline drastically as a result of fear and uncertainty linked to Obama’s defense cutbacks.  In much the same way as Australia will be more vulnerable to attack this Christmas, I predict U.S. military readiness and capabilities will be weakened during Obama’s watch.