Time to get serious about tough problems.

• Author: Farrell, Lawrence P.
• Position: President's Perspective

With midterm election results having been digested and scrutinized endlessly, serious analysts are turning to a discussion of the many problems facing the country. The election didn't really settle anything. It only teed up a new assembly of elected leaders who must confront the same issues that previous leaders faced. The issues are no easier to deal with. The American public and the newly elected officials hope that this time something can be done.

Of primary interest to the defense community is funding and support for the U.S. military. The issue has increased urgency given our new commitments to the fight against radicalism in the Middle East and elsewhere. The problem is not only the increased finding being requested--$5.6 billion sought by the administration for action against the Islamic State--but also the lack of clear objectives for this new fight. There is also a need for them to be expressed in a resolution that the president will be presenting to Congress to authorize this fight, which is now estimated to take several years.

Another concern is extending legislative authorization for the $500 million program to train and equip Syrian moderate forces. This authorization runs out at the same time as the continuing resolution that funds the government which expires Dec. 11.

Our increasingly complex and intense military operations need political support, funding and national understanding, in addition to a clear definition of what is to be expected.

One wishes that an omnibus appropriation can be accomplished by the lame-duck Congress. Certainly something must be done before the government runs out of funding. Hopefully it will not be another continuing resolution extending out into the new Congress. There is so much to be done that pushing the budget debate into the next Congress will slow everything down. The reason for this concern is to be found in the severe problems with the fiscal year 2016 budget and the caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

As defense officials have said repeatedly, the BCA caps will impose such stringent limits on spending that major force adjustments by the services can no longer be avoided. Army force structure would drop to 420,000, versus the glide path to 450,000 that leaders had envisioned. Such a small force, according to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, would be insufficient to execute the Army portion of the national military strategy. The Navy would not have funds to complete...