A Historical Perspective on Hollow Forces

Abstract

Senior Department of Defense (DOD) leaders have invoked the specter of a hollow force to describe what could happen to the U.S. Armed Forces if significant cuts to the defense budget are enacted. While some Members and staff might be familiar with the hollow force and its causes, newer Members and staff might not have a similar understanding of the conditions that led to the hollow force and what actions were taken to improve the condition of the U.S. Armed Forces. After a several years of rapid growth in defense budgets, measures to reduce federal budget deficits have led to projections of a substantial decline in military spending over the next decade. As a result of limits on discretionary spending in the Budget Control Act of 2011, DOD is considering how to absorb a reduction of $450 billion to $500 billion in planned programs through FY2021. Senior defense officials have said that such reductions can be managed, but they also warn that that trade-offs among defense programs will require a reassessment of priorities, and that deeper cuts would weaken critical capabilities. A common theme is that, unless reductions are managed prudently, budget cuts of the magnitude required, let alone larger cuts, would risk creating a hollow force. The term hollow force refers to military forces that appear mission-ready but, upon examination, suffer from shortages of personnel and equipment, and from deficiencies in training. Historically, there were two periods post-Vietnam and again in the 1990s when the term hollow force was used to describe the U.S. armed forces. In the case of post-Vietnam, a variety of socio-economic factors as well as funding decisions played a large role in the overall decline in readiness, particularly the decision to develop new weapon systems rather than funding other requirements.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 31, 2012
Accession Number
ADA590424

Entities

People

  • Andrew Feickert
  • Stephen Daggett

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Air Force
  • Business Administration
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Department Of Defense
  • Employment
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Federal Budgets
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Procurement
  • Recruiting
  • Recruits
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Economics
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.