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WASHINGTON, D.C., OUTSIDER
who has pledged to rebuild what he has called a “deplet- ed” military soon will serve as the new commander in chief.
Many were surprised last Novem- ber when Donald Trump swept key swing states in the South and Midwest to win the presidential election. Trump, who’s never held public office, edged out his Demo- cratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, ending a long and combative election season. In his acceptance speech the
next morning, the president-elect called on Americans to come to- gether after the divisive campaign season. The New York businessman also pledged to put more Americans to work by rebuilding infrastructure and promised to “finally take care of our great veterans.” Throughout his campaign, Trump said he’d boost the size of the military,
58 MILITARY OFFICER JANUARY 2017
including people, ships, and aircraft — though details about how he’d carry out those plans never were specified. He recently released a 10-point plan for VA reform, and he will face tough decisions about the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and how to lead the armed forces through ongoing per- sonnel and budget adjustments. The president-elect will be joined in office by Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who is the father of a Marine Corps officer training to become a pilot. Trump recently an- nounced he’ll nominate Gen. James Mattis, USMC (Ret), to serve as his defense secretary. Here’s what troops can expect from their new commander in chief.
F/A-18C Hornets fly above USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). The size of the fleet could increase signifi- cantly under the new administration.
People and pay After repeatedly arguing that Presi- dent Barack Obama’s administration had undercut the military, Trump
laid out plans in September 2016 to: Q increase the number of active duty soldiers to 540,000, up nearly 100,000 troops from the Army’s cur-
rent drawdown plans; Q boost the number of Marine Corps battalions to 36 to deal with major contingencies, thus adding about a
dozen battalions to the force; Q build a Navy that has 350 surface ships and submarines, about a 28-percent bump from today’s
fleet; and Q build an Air Force of at least 1,200 fighter aircraft. With another round of across-
the-board spending cuts known as sequestration threatening to wreak havoc on the 2018 defense budget, the military currently doesn’t have
PHOTOS: ABOVE, LT. J.G. WILL HARRIS, USN; PREVIOUS SPREAD, JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY PHOTOS/IMAGES: TKTK
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