All-volunteer force 'unalffordable'.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Defense Insider

* The ongoing defense review also might be an opportune time to reassess the Pentagon's costly personnel and entitlement benefits programs, said retired Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman, former Air Force chief of staff One of the reasons why Pentagon spending has ballooned so quickly over the past decade is the cost of the all-volunteer force, he noted. The force, at the size it is today, is "unaffordable," said Fogleman. The solution might be a smaller active-duty force, and better use of the National Guard and Reserves, he suggested.

When the Pentagon's budgets were slashed after the end of the Cold War, the all-volunteer force had been in place for about 20 years, so the "real impact had not yet started, and had not been felt," Fogleman said. "This issue only has been attacked on the margins." Returning to a draft system is not the answer, he said. But the Defense...