And when that war ended, the first thing I did was to place a call to California, and say thank you to President Ronald Reagan. Our country was well-served by that debate as well. We began a 25 percent reduction in our military - cutting what was no longer needed, and nothing more. Today s debate is the result of reductions that have gone far beyond that - far beyond any careful weighing of the national interest. Unwise reductions whose full effect is still unseen.
Time frames run long in the military.
You can t simply switch things on or off according to the needs of the moment. It takes a quarter-century to prepare an officer capable of commanding a modern armored division in combat. For an aircraft carrier, it takes nine years from the day it is authorized by Congress to the day it sets off to sea with a full crew ready to go to war. The military itself is like a mighty ship - needing time, turning in a long arc, even after you ve decided to change course. As Governor Bush told the VFW, The choices we make now, in the quiet days of peace, will determine future battles won or lost, young lives protected or squandered.