Defending Defense

On the potential erosion of readiness: In addition to downsizing our presence in the Persian Gulf-at least until there's another crisis we have to respond to-we're also looking at ways to better manage our personnel tempo so these deployments are more predictable. We've found that the problems are not so much in the Navy and Marine Corps, which generally know when and for how long they will deploy. We want to make deployments more predictable for the Army and Air Force as well.

On the exodus of military pilots: One way is to try and get back to a pre-crisis level of deployments, because the living conditions on some of the missions are not attractive. More importantly, however, are the great opportunities our pilots have in the civilian sector. An airline job offering three times the money and one-fourth the work can sound pretty attractive.

We're trying to improve compensation, but it gets complicated when you start increasing bonuses only for pilots. Pretty soon your support personnel start pointing out that the pilots couldn't fly without their contribution.

On reports he would mothball military bases if they aren't closed: That is not something I am actively considering. I did not suggest it as an alternative to another round of base closures, but rather as a last recourse. Letting a base wither on the vine by neglecting repairs, maintenance and modernization is not really fair, because the morale of the workforce goes way down. The community also loses, because it doesn't get federal help in reconstituting the base for civilian purposes. But you know, I've got tough choices to make. As a percentage of GDP [gross domestic product] the Defense budget continues to decline.

On the idea of relying heavily on reserve forces: It sounds attractive, and I don't doubt that there are benefits to the idea of a much larger reliance on the Reserves. I would point out, however, that the National Guard and Reserves are less expensive than full-time, active-duty forces-until you use them. When you activate the Guard and Reserves for an actual deployment, however, they are much more expensive than the active-duty forces.

My real problem with the idea of returning to a militia is that we would lose our presence around the world. An integral part of our Quadrennial Defense Review strategy involves "shaping" the international environment, and we do that by being forward deployed in Asia, Europe and the Persian Gulf. If we adopt the "come home America" philosophy that Pat Buchanan advocates, and which I remember George McGovern proposing in the early 1970s, then other countries will fill that void.

On the military in American society: When there's an absence of war, there's a strong tendency in liberal democracies to focus on domestic issues. Just because there's no enemy immediately apparent doesn't mean we don't need to be militarily prepared, however, because unfortunately history has shown that peace is not the natural state of humankind. I also want to reconnect the American people to their military, to let them see how smart and dedicated it is, because as we draw down and close bases, there's less interaction between America and its military on a day-to-day basis.