Top officials from four branches of the US military warn that the armed forces are currently not ready to respond to an unexpected crisis after years of combat and budget cuts.
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, General John Paxton, assistant commandant of the US Marine Corps, warned lawmakers that the Marines might not be able to deter a potential enemy.
“I worry about the capability and the capacity to win in a major fight somewhere else right now,” Paxton said.
The top general said that long military engagements have taken a hard toll on aviation, intelligence and communications units.
He said approximately 80 percent of the units lack the number of aircraft required for training and operations.
“In the event of a crisis, these degraded units could either be called upon to deploy immediately at increased risk to the force and the mission, or require additional time to prepare thus incurring increased risk to…