FORUM TOPIC

military readiness

  • In this edition

    by LOU ZICKAR After the worst year for military recruiting since the start of the all-volunteer force in 1973, the latest edition of The Ripon Forum focuses on U.S. military readiness at a time of rising tensions around the globe. 

  • The Ultimate Weapon is in Short Supply

    The Army only made 75 percent of its recruiting quota in fiscal year 2022, and other services have also been strapped to meet their targets. Why the shortfall, and what can be done to reverse it?

  • Saving Ukraine: The Evolution of Aid and What the Future May Hold

    Without the rapid delivery of weapons and munitions from the United States, NATO, and others, Ukraine would have been overwhelmed in two or three weeks. What comes next?

  • The National Defense Stockpile is Small but Important — and Should Be Bigger

    Today, the stockpile is but a fraction of its former self; its cache of materials is valued at less than $1 billion. Corrected for inflation, that’s less than 1/40th of its value in 1952.

  • Back to the Future for Defense

    Republicans ought to take a page from the Reagan playbook and insist that we can defeat inflation and control federal spending without weakening our military.