Army strategists planning for austerity.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Defense Insider - United States Army - Brief article

* The national security of the United States does not rest in bigger military budgets but in controlling its mounting debt, said participants of a recent Army "alternative futures" wargame.

"We are embracing the requirement that we have to contribute to solving our debt crisis. We are not fighting it," said Brig. Gen. Patrick J. Donahue II, director of the concepts development and learning directorate at the Army Capabilities Integration Center.

With the U.S. debt about to reach $15 trillion and annual deficits in excess of a trillion dollars, the Army will have to do its part to cut spending, he said.

Frank Finelli, managing director of The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm, said the United States must either slow down its borrowing or risk a big meltdown. A rather shocking statistic, he said, is that the U.S. economy was...