US military has become so depleted under Obama it is now only 'marginally able' to defend nation, scathing report claims Report released by think tank The Heritage Foundation on Tuesday Claims US military can no longer achieve its objective of being able to fight two simultaneous wars Cuts to number of soldiers and naval ships leave US under-powered
By Lydia Willgress for MailOnline
Published: 04:33 EST, 26 February 2015 | Updated: 10:14 EST, 26 February 2015
The US military has become so depleted by cuts that it has been left only 'marginally able' to defend the nation.
Decreases in the number of soldiers and naval ships have led to armed forces falling short of President Obama's national security strategy, a report by The Heritage Foundation claimed.
Obama's aim was to ensure that the country could still fight two major conflicts at once.
But the Index of US Military Strength report, released by the think tank on Tuesday, said that with current funding this would be problematic.
The report said: 'The consistent decline in funding and the consequent shrinking of the US Army are putting it under significant pressure.
'The cumulative effect of such factors has resulted in a US military that is marginally able to meet the demands of defending America's vital national interests.'
The Quadrennial Defense Review announced last year that the Army would be cut from 570,000 soldiers to 440,000 - the fewest since World War II.
The Army historically commits 21 brigade combat teams to one war but would struggle to do this and leave reserves if there were two simultaneous conflicts, the report said.
It added that the Navy would need another 62 ships to be able to carry out two large campaigns.
However the Air Force’s fleet is judged 'strong'.
Dakota Wood, a Heritage analyst and former Marine Corps officer, said: 'The US military itself is ageing. It's shrinking in size.
'It's quickly becoming problematic in terms of being able to address more than one major conflict.'
Randy Forbes, member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the report's findings were stark.
He said: 'It paints a stark picture of shortfalls in capability, capacity and readiness across the force, and illustrates the damage done by years of irresponsible budget cuts.
'If you listen to the Army, they will give testimony that they can no longer guarantee. You talk about two wars - they testified they can't guarantee that we could win one war.
'The Navy will tell you if we get to 260 ships, we cease to be a superpower - we become a regional power.
'I encourage all policy-makers interested in the current state of our military, and how to improve it, to review this Index.'
Under Obama the Pentagon's base budget, minus overseas war costs, has decreased from $527 billion in 2010 to around $496 billion.
He is hoping the budget will increase to $534 billion in 2016.
