By Jen DiMascio
Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), a latecomer to the presidential contest, recently outlined his national priorities for the campaign, among them calling for a “million- member” ground force and support for military modernization.
National security should be the nation’s top priority and he is willing to pay for it.
“We must begin by rebuilding our military with the full recognition that national security comes at a price,” Thompson said during a Nov. 13 speech at The Citadel, a college frequently chosen by Republican candidates to highlight military issues.
In 1999, President Bush, who was then the governor of Texas, gave a major national security address at the college in South Carolina, a key early primary state. Frontrunner Rudy Giuliani (R) outlined his plan for the military at the college in May.
In his recent speech, Thompson topped other Republicans in the field saying that he would spend at least 4.5 percent of the gross domestic product on defense–excluding war costs. In fiscal year 2008, the Pentagon has received $459 billion and requested another $196 billion for the war.
Current spending is 4.1 percent of Gross Domestic Product, counting the wars, but that figure is expected to come down one percent of GDP by 2011, he said.
That would reflect the historic pattern of defense spending, which increases during periods of conflict and falls sharply when hostilities end.
Thompson addressed the latest example of that pattern during his speech.
After the Cold War ended, the nation cut defense spending to nearly 3 percent, which has led to a down-sized Air Force, reduced the Pentagon’s research efforts and poked a hole in the Navy’s 300-ship goal, he said.
“We are still feeling the effects of these reductions today. We have major shortcomings in U.S. defense capabilities,” Thompson said.
Saying that Iraq and Afghanistan have shown the military is too small, Thompson said he wants to correct that. He called for an active-duty Army of 775,000, and Marine Corps of 225,000.
“Half-measures and small increases will no longer do. We need the best all-volunteer force that can meet the security needs of this country, and they must be organized, trained and equipped to deal with tomorrow’s threats as well as today’s,” he said.
Along with an increase in the budget for personnel, Thompson pledged to modernize the military.
“We must fully field and fund the next generation of military systems to ensure U.S. forces retain dominance in the full battle space: On the battlefield, in the skies above it, and in the waters surrounding it,” he said.
Thompson’s Citadel speech acknowledged potential critics of his proposal.
“Some will say that this plan is ‘too much,’ or ‘too big.’ Others will say that building a large military will encourage our involvement in more conflicts. But these views are out step with reality, out of touch with our nation’s needs, and overlook our nation’s history,” Thompson said. “The fact is, we can and must do this. The world, our foes and friends alike, will not allow us to do otherwise. We can either build up and deter war, or we can allow our forces to wither and risk conflict.”
Thompson’s policy statement on spending and increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps go beyond what other Republicans have called for.
Giuliani’s Citadel speech called for an increase over the current administration’s plans by at least 10 new brigades.
A month earlier, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) said he is seeking an increase of at least 100,000 soldiers and a jump in defense spending to at least 4 percent of GDP.
Thompson’s support from the defense sector currently lags behind Giuliani, Romney and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), according to a campaign finance database at opensecrets.org. Thompson has brought in only $28,050 in defense sector donations.
But Thompson is leveraging contacts from his time in Congress with ties to the defense world. On Nov. 19, he picked up endorsements from Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), a member of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.
During his time in the Senate, Thompson served on the Senate Intelligence Committee when it investigated failures in intelligence and analysis that led to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He opposed the Bush administration’s effort to loosen export controls because they didn’t adequately balance national security interests. And he went against President Clinton’s changes to an anti-ballistic missile treaty that would have limited the nation’s missile defense options.