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Survey: Senior officers gloomy about military

A new survey of more than 3,400 active and retired field-grade officers finds an alarmingly downcast view of the state of the U.S. military, with 60 percent saying the nation’s armed forces are weaker than they were 5 years ago and 88 percent saying the war in Iraq has stretched the military “dangerously thin.”

The greatest concern was expressed over the ground forces, which are bearing the brunt of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The survey, jointly conducted by the respected magazine Foreign Policy and the Center for a New American Security, a Washington, D.C., think tank, measured the opinions of officers holding the rank of major or lieutenant commander and above. About 35 percent of the respondents were from the Army, 33 percent from the Air Force, 23 percent from the Navy and 8 percent from the Marine Corps. More than 200 were flag officers, and 81 percent had served more than 20 years.

Most of the active-duty respondents were students at senior-level military schools such as the Army War College. Two-thirds had combat experience, but only 10 percent had served in Iraq, Afghanistan or both.

Other survey findings were equally troubling. Asked if they agreed or disagreed with the statement, “Torture is never acceptable,” 44 percent disagreed and 53 percent agreed.

Asked to grade the health of each service on a scale of one to 10, with one meaning “no concern” and 10 “extremely concerned,” the officers graded the Army at 7.9, the Marine Corps at 7.0, the Navy at 5.9 and the Air Force at 5.7.

The military’s ability to successfully fight in various potential hot spots also drew a disconcerting response: With one considered “unable to execute” and 10 considered “fully prepared,” respondents graded Syria at 5.1, the Taiwan Strait at 4.9, North Korea at 4.7 and Iran at 4.5.

The officers said the Army’s readiness is the worst, with an average score on a one-to-10 scale of just 4.7. The Marine Corps came in at 5.7; the Air Force at 6.6 and the Navy at 6.8.

The military is trying to grow the Army and Marine Corps even as the Navy and Air Force continue to downsize. Asked which steps they would support to increase recruiting numbers, nearly 80 percent of respondents said they would support expanding eligibility for foreign nationals to use U.S. military service as a fast track to citizenship. Fifty-eight percent would lower education standards; 47 percent would increase enlistment bonuses; 47 percent would increase maximum age restrictions; 22 percent would allow gays to serve openly and 7 percent would increase the use of criminal or health waivers.

And almost two in five respondents — 38 percent — favored reinstating a draft.

On the one-to 10 scale, respondents put their level of confidence in the presidency at just 5.5, with 16 percent expressing “no confidence at all in the president.”

Two-thirds of the officers said they believe America’s civilian leaders “are either somewhat or very uninformed about the U.S. military.” Asked whether civilian leaders set reasonable or unreasonable goals for the U.S. military in post-war Iraq, only 13 percent said they were reasonable.

The findings were published today in the March/April issue of Foreign Policy.