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The Trump Doctrine – ‘Leading From The Front’

By Lindsay Wess

The Trump Doctrine holds steadfast to the belief that the strongest guy in the neighborhood with a clear resolve to fight, rarely has to. Trump’s philosophy is to spend whatever it takes to make the U.S. military the strongest, most up to date, well equipped, and technologically advanced in order to spend the lowest possible in Human Treasure. In 2009, the budget for the DOD [Department of Defense] and the OCO [Overseas Contingencies Operations] was $666 billion. In 2013, that budget dropped to $578 billion, and although it’s been climbing to $580 billion in 2016 it’s anticipated to reach $644 billion by the year 2021. These numbers beg the question, what does the U.S. really need to spend to rebuild the military? It’s clear that spending in the $600 billion plus area has only led to a depleted personnel force along with equipment that’s aged beyond the point of access to fresh replacements parts. Equipment parts beyond repair have to be replaced by harvesting from old and failing equipment. If Trump keeps to his word, funding will have to increase enormously. We are compelled to accept the fact that only a trillion dollar budget will allow for the restoration and expansion of next generation hardware. This infusion of money translates into tens of billions of dollars into new contracts for top tier contractors like: Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, etc. While on the stump, Trump accentuated two areas in dire need of a course correction: Jobs leaving the U.S. and a depleted military. Trump repeatedly professed our military was ill prepared to deal with the global threat from radical Islamic terrorists, Iranian influence throughout the Middle East along with their march towards obtaining a nuclear weapon, Russia’s larcenous procurement of Crimea from Ukraine along with creating a civil war in that country, China gaining an ever-stronger foothold in the South Pacific and who could ever forget North Korea; a country already in possession of a nuclear weapon and developing a ballistic missile capable of carrying the warhead to the U.S. Unfortunately, Trump’s warning were not the ‘huckster-esque’ rants of a Reality Show star looking to win votes, but rather a star lamenting the reality of a depleted military and a pledge to rebuild it. The statistics are jaw dropping. At present, the number of active U.S. Military is 1,196,897; at the end of World War II the figure was a staggering six million. In 2015, the Navy hardware amounted to two hundred seventy vessels; at the end of World War II it was a formidable six thousand. True, modern technology allows the military to function with lower levels of personnel and hardware, but ‘sci-fi’ technology doesn’t come cheap. Controlling Space is essential if the U.S. is to maintain its military superiority. If our GPS satellite system went down, we would be hurled back in time to conducting what is referred to as ‘Industrial Age Warfare’; similar in nature to the Vietnam and Korean wars. Budget cuts in this arena would be playing a deadly game of chance. Trump’s relentless promise to rebuild the military, was not campaign rhetoric, but rather highlighting a story of neglect. However, The Democratic Party claims that our military spending already exceeds that of the ten largest militaries in the world combined. A claim that is true, yet misleading. The only reason other countries are afforded the luxury of offering social programs with cradle to coffin support is because the U.S. shoulders the majority of the burden by protecting its allies. Democrats view our military intervention in much of the world as an element of a vicious cycle in which the use of the military creates the need for a larger one. Trump would say that this kind of thinking is what gave birth to the dogma of ‘leading from behind’; which was the motivation for pulling all armed forces out of Iraq, thus creating the vacuum in which Isis was born. As we cannot predict the actual number of new job opportunities during the Trump administration, we can certainly surmise that the recruitment of engineering, technology & especially cyber sec professionals will be on the rise. Job fairs such as TECHEXPO Top Secret and hiring events at Ft. Meade which, offer opportunities to those who possess an active security clearance should therefore see an increase in participation from the country’s leading defense contractors who will win new military contracts from the newly elected leadership. Trump would no doubt compare those who harangue him for his pledge to have the strongest U.S. military in the world to those who burn the flag. The ironies of those who condemn that, which affords them to protest. Luckily for them, Trump is not swayed by their chants. Trump will take on the arduous task of building the military and although having the resolve to use it, will pray to not have to. A man that understands ‘Leaders Lead From The Front.’