Barack Obama will rebuild the military for 21st century tasks:
Obama and Biden will complete the effort to increase our ground forces by 65,000 soldiers
and 27,000 Marines. They will also invest in 21st century missions like counterinsurgency
by building up our special operations forces, civil affairs, information operations,
foreign language training and other units and capabilities that remain in chronic short
supply.

Restore the readiness of the National Guard and Reserves:
Obama and Biden will provide the National Guard with the equipment it needs for foreign
and domestic emergencies. They will ensure that reservists and Guard members are treated
fairly when it comes to employment, health, and education benefits.

Engage our allies in meeting our common security challenges:
Obama and Biden will renew alliances and ensure our allies contribute their fair share to
our mutual security.

A 21st Century Military for America
The Problem
A 20th Century Structure for 21st Century Problems: We have inherited a national security
structure that was developed and organized in the late 1940s to win the Cold War. It
remains a rigid bureaucracy of government agencies, relying upon a restrictive and
disconnected set of legal authorities. 

New Leadership and Vision is Needed: America simply cannot afford more of the old
approach to our national defense. Instead, it needs a Commander-in-Chief with the right
combination of judgment, vision, and leadership for the 21st century. 

A Military Under Strain: Currently, our soldiers, seamen, airmen and Marines are deployed
around the globe, working valiantly to defend our nation. Yet, these heroes are
under-resourced and asked to do too much by a policy that has too often taken their
sacrifice for granted. Due to their incredible courage and ingenuity, they persevere, but
at incredible cost to themselves and their families. 

Recruitment and Retention Problems: A country of 300 million strong should not struggle
to find enough qualified citizens to serve. Recruiting and retention problems have been
swept under the rug by an administration that does not understand the value of service to
our nation. 

A System Not Serving our Troops as Well as They Serve Us: As the shameful events at
Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the recent reports on growing numbers of homeless and
unemployed veterans show, we simply are not taking proper care of our wounded warriors and
veterans. 

Barack Obama and Joe Biden's Plan
Invest in a 21st Century Military 
Rebuild the Military for 21st Century Tasks: As we rebuild our armed forces, we must not
simply recreate the military of the Cold War era. Obama and Biden believe that we must
build up our special operations forces, civil affairs, information operations, and other
units and capabilities that remain in chronic short supply; invest in foreign language
training, cultural awareness, and human intelligence and other needed counterinsurgency
and stabilization skill sets; and create a more robust capacity to train, equip, and
advise foreign security forces, so that local allies are better prepared to confront
mutual threats. 
Expand to Meet Military Needs on the Ground: Barack Obama and Joe Biden support plans to
increase the size of the Army by 65,000 soldiers and the Marines by 27,000 troops.
Increasing our end strength will help units retrain and re-equip properly between
deployments and decrease the strain on military families. 
Leadership from the Top: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will restore the ethic of public
service to the agenda of today's youth, whether it be serving their local communities in
such roles as teachers or first responders, or serving in the military to keep our nation
free and safe. 
Lighten the Burdens on Our Brave Troops and Their Families: An Obama-Biden administration
will create a Military Families Advisory Board to provide a conduit for military families'
concerns to be brought to the attention of senior policymakers and the public. Obama and
Biden will end the Bush administration's stop-loss policy and establish predictability in
deployments so that active duty and reserves know what they can and must expect. 
Build Defense Capabilities for the 21st Century
Fully Equip Our Troops for the Missions They Face: Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we
must get vitally needed equipment to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines before
lives are lost. We cannot repeat such failures as the delays in deployment of armored
vehicles, body armor and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that save lives on the frontlines. 
Review Weapons Programs: We must rebalance our capabilities to ensure that our forces
have the agility and lethality to succeed in both conventional wars and in stabilization
and counter-insurgency operations. Obama and Biden have committed to a review of each
major defense program in light of current needs, gaps in the field, and likely future
threat scenarios in the post-9/11 world. 
Preserve Global Reach in the Air: We must preserve our unparalleled airpower capabilities
to deter and defeat any conventional competitors, swiftly respond to crises across the
globe, and support our ground forces. We need greater investment in advanced technology
ranging from the revolutionary, like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and electronic warfare
capabilities, to essential systems like the C-17 cargo and KC-X air refueling aircraft,
which provide the backbone of our ability to extend global power. 
Maintain Power Projection at Sea: We must recapitalize our naval forces, replacing aging
ships and modernizing existing platforms, while adapting them to the 21st century. Obama
and Biden will add to the Maritime Pre-Positioning Force Squadrons to support operations
ashore and invest in smaller, more capable ships, providing the agility to operate close
to shore and the reach to rapidly deploy Marines to global crises. 
National Missile Defense: An Obama-Biden administration will support missile defense, but
ensure that it is developed in a way that is pragmatic and cost-effective; and, most
importantly, does not divert resources from other national security priorities until we
are positive the technology will protect the American public. 
Ensure Freedom of Space: An Obama-Biden administration will restore American leadership
on space issues, seeking a worldwide ban on weapons that interfere with military and
commercial satellites. He will thoroughly assess possible threats to U.S. space assets
and the best options, military and diplomatic, for countering them, establishing
contingency plans to ensure that U.S. forces can maintain or duplicate access to
information from space assets and accelerating programs to harden U.S. satellites against
attack. 
Protect the U.S in Cyberspace: An Obama-Biden administration will work in cooperation
with our allies and the private sector to identify and protect against emerging
cyber-threats. 
Restore the Readiness of the National Guard and Reserves
Barack Obama and Joe Biden will provide the National Guard with the equipment it needs
for foreign and domestic emergencies and time to restore and refit before deploying. They
will make the head of the National Guard a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to ensure
concerns of our citizen soldiers reach the level they mandate. They will ensure that
reservists and Guard members are treated fairly when it comes to employment, health, and
education benefits. 
Develop Whole of Government Initiatives to Promote Global Stability 
Integrate Military and Civilian Efforts: An Obama-Biden administration will build up the
capacity of each non-Pentagon agency to deploy personnel and area experts where they are
needed, to help move soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines out of civilian roles. 
Create a Civilian Assistance Corps (CAC): An Obama-Biden administration will set a goal
of creating a national CAC of 25,000 personnel. This corps of civilian volunteers with
special skill, sets (doctors, lawyers, engineers, city planners, agriculture specialists,
police, etc.) would be organized to provide each federal agency with a pool of volunteer
experts willing to deploy in times of need at home and abroad. 
Restore Our Alliances 
Engage Our Allies in Meeting Our Common Security Challenges: America's traditional
alliances, such as NATO, must be transformed and strengthened, including on common
security concerns like Afghanistan, homeland security, and counterterrorism. Obama and
Biden will renew alliances and ensure our allies contribute their fair share to our
mutual security. 
Organize to Help Our Partners and Allies in Need: An Obama-Biden administration will
expand humanitarian activities that build friends and allies at the regional and local
level (such as during the response to the tsunami in South and Southeast Asia), and win
hearts and minds in the process. 
Reform Contracting
Create Transparency for Military Contractors: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require the
Pentagon and State Department to develop a strategy for determining when contracting makes
sense, rather than continually handing off governmental jobs to well-connected companies.
An Obama-Biden administration will create the transparency and accountability needed for
good governance. Finally, it will establish the legal status of contractor personnel,
making possible prosecution of any abuses committed by private military contractors. 
Restore Honesty, Openness, and Commonsense to Contracting and Procurement: An Obama-Biden
administration will realize savings by reducing the corruption and cost overruns that have
become all too routine in defense contracting. This includes launching a program of
acquisition reform and management, which would end the common practice of no-bid
contracting.Obama and Biden will end the abuse of supplemental budgets by creating a
system of oversight for war funds as stringent as in the regular budget. Obama and Biden
will restore the government's ability to manage contracts by rebuilding our contract
officer corps. They will order the Justice Department to prioritize prosecutions that
will punish and deter fraud, waste and abuse.