An independent panel has warned that U.S. national security is headed for a "train wreck" if decisive action isn't taken to increase the size of the Navy, improve training of U.S. military personnel and replace aging equipment used by the military services, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
In a review of the Department of Defense's Quadrennial Defense Review process, the panel headed by former Defense Secretary William Perry under the Clinton administration and former National Security adviser Stephen Hadley under the Bush administration warned that the United States will be unable to meet its international commitments unless it modernizes its armed forces.
In addition, current force structure will be unable to respond to a homeland catastrophe that could occur during a period of ongoing contingency operations abroad, the panel said, claiming that military forces for homeland defense are deficient.
"The Department of Defense must plan for contingencies in which it may be asked to perform a more expansive homeland defense mission on short notice," the report said. "The Department needs to plan for and exercise a response to a major natural disaster or a catastrophic attack in the United Sates that causes major loss of life."
In so doing, the report said that the Defense Department would have to take the lead over the Department of Homeland Security. It proposed that Congress give the Defense Department that authority.
"Whereas whole-of-government solutions are highly desirable," the report said, "the Department of Defense is often the only agency with the mission, structure, organization, experience and capability necessary to meet the challenges associated with a catastrophe."
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