To Defend a Nation: An Overview of Downsizing and the U.S. Military

Special Issue

Abstract

Few institutions have had as much experience with organizational downsizing as the United States military. The historic pattern has been one of a small professional military in peacetime, rapidly supplemented by a mobilization of civilians during war, followed by a rapid demobilization with the war’s end. Decisions about military force sizing are critical political and strategic decisions. This article discusses the downsizing of the United State’s Cold War military force. Each of the three major reviews of the military structure –Base Force, Bottom-Up-Review, Quadrennial Review–are briefly discussed. Some of the claimed consequences of downsizing of the military are considered in the concluding section.