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Thompson wants million-member ground force

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson called for a million-member military ground force and more funding to equip and care for service members and veterans in a speech Tuesday at a military college in this early presidential primary state.

The former Tennessee senator and actor also told a crowd at The Citadel that he wants more modern battle equipment on the ground, in the air and on the water to help revitalize the nation’s security.

“With 20th century equipment in a 21st century war, our material support for our troops has not matched the demands we have placed on them,” Thompson said to applause from hundreds of cadets, staff and visitors at the school’s basketball arena. “We’ve been asking too few troops to do too much for too long.”

“Some would say this plan is too much and too big,” Thompson said. “I don’t believe that’s the case, not at all.”

Thompson is in a close three-way race here with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Also Tuesday, the National Right to Life Committee endorsed Thompson, saying he is the most likely to beat Giuliani, an abortion-rights supporter.

The Citadel has become a frequent backdrop on the presidential trail. Giuliani spoke at the college’s graduation in May, and Arizona Sen. John McCain was there in September. South Carolina Democrats held their second televised presidential primary debate at The Citadel in July.

When Giuliani was there, he called for adding 100,000 soldiers to the Army — 35,000 more than the total of 547,000 the Pentagon said it wanted.

Thompson said Tuesday he wants a military ground force that includes 775,000 soldiers and 225,000 Marines. That would be 23,000 more Marines than the Pentagon currently is seeking.

“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,” Thompson said.

Thompson didn’t say how he would pay for or recruit those forces. He did say that military spending should be set at 4.5 percent of the value of the goods and services the nation creates, or gross domestic product. His campaign later said that would be the equivalent of increasing current military spending by up to $150 billion a year, but that increases would be phased in and depend on economic growth.

Last month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Army’s goal could be reached by 2010, two years earlier than projected when announced in January, at a cost of $2.6 billion.

But the Army started its recruiting year Oct. 1, with fewer signed up for basic training than in any year since it became an all-volunteer service in 1973. The Army barely reached its goals the previous year, doing so as it pushed recruiters to work harder, offered fatter bonuses and issued more waivers for such transgressions as past minor crimes or drug use.

Retired Col. John Lackey, a Citadel professor, said after the speech that the Pentagon is struggling to make recruiting goals now and that Thompson’s plan may be impractical because of costs and the competing need for equipment.

“That’s going to take a lot of money,” Lackey said.

Thompson, who began airing his first television ads in South Carolina on Monday, said the key is to protect the nation from terrorists and weapons of mass destruction, and that diplomacy and economic tools need to be backed up with force.

“To overcome this danger, we need a clear and consistent strategy and the means with which to achieve it,” Thompson said.

He said the nation needs to beef up its missile and space defense systems, as well as do more to protect computer systems and tighten the nation’s borders.

Thompson also said he advocates implementing many of the recommendations of a presidential commission on improving the treatment of wounded veterans. He also said service members need better pay and benefits, including a modern GI Bill that will help recruit and retain the best people.

He played to his Southern audience with a mention one of his most recent screen roles: as a president in the movie “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.”

“Some people say I’ve got a little making up to do. The last role I played when I was in the movies — I played Ulysses S. Grant. But, uh, I want to tell you, I drew the line at playing General Sherman,” Thompson said.

The Citadel’s history includes cadets firing on Fort Sumter at the start of the Civil War.