Providing for the Common Defense

A strong military is essential to keeping America free, safe and prosperous. Budgets must be adequate to maintain a trained and ready force, support current operations, and prepare the military for future missions. Without funds to pay for all three of these priorities the armed forces will become "hollow," as it did in the 1970s after Vietnam. Avoiding a hollow force will require adequate sustained defense spending year in and year out. Congress must commit to spending 4 percent of GDP on national defense. This level of spending is consistent with the requirements of a global super power to defend its vital national interests around the world. It is also a level of spending that will allow the Department of Defenses to field the critical capabilities required to meet a range of threats in the 21^st century – including space and missile defenses to counter the threat of ballistic missiles, adequate ground troops to provide "boots on the ground" to respond to disasters at home and operations overseas, and a Navy and Air Force that can't be bested by any other nation in the world.

Heritage In Focus

National Security analyst MacKenzie Eaglen says allocating four percent of our country’s GDP for defense spending is not too high a price to pay for freedom.

In the News | Policy Papers | Experts

Media Contact: Audrey Jones, Media Services Associate (202) 608-6159

Policy Papers:

Providing for the Common Defense: What 10 Years of Progress Would Look Like - James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Baker Spring and Mackenzie Eaglen

The FY 2009 Defense Budget Request: The Growing Gap in Defense Spending - Baker Spring

SOS: Congress Must Save the Aircraft Carrier Fleet - Mackenzie Eaglen and James Dolbo

Paying for America's All-Volunteer Military: Reform Is Not a Dirty Word - Mackenzie Eaglen

Congress Should Pass a 2009 Defense Authorization Bill This Year - Mackenzie Eaglen

Congress Should Not Permit Negative GAO Report to Curtail Weapons Programs - Baker Spring

The Case for Future Combat Systems (PDF) - Mackenzie Eaglen and Oliver Horn

Providing for the Common Defense: Four Percent for Freedom - the Honorable Jim Talent and Mackenzie M. Eaglen

Future Combat Systems: A Congressional Guide to Army Modernization - Mackenzie M. Eaglen and Oliver L. Horn

Four Percent for Freedom: The Need to Invest More in Defense - Selected Writings - Mackenzie Eaglen

The Economic Effects of Spending Four Percent of GDP on Defense - William W. Beach and Tracy Foertsch, Ph.D.

Four Percent for Freedom: Spend More on National Defense - Baker Spring

Four Percent for Freedom: Maintaining Robust National Security Spending - James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Baker Spring and Mackenzie Eaglen

Defense FY 2008 Budget Analysis: Four Percent for Freedom - Baker Spring

House and Senate Defense Budgets Imply the Need for Future Supplemental Funding - Baker Spring

Delayed Emergency Appropriations Put U.S. Forces at Risk - Mackenzie Eaglen

An Adequate Defense Budget That Must Be Sustained into the Future - Baker Spring

Bush's Budget: Protecting Homeland Security and Defense by Reining in Entitlements - Baker Spring, James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Alison Acosta Fraser and Brian M. Riedl

U.S. Navy: Maintaining Maritime Supremacy in the 21st Century -Mackenzie Eaglen

State of the Union 2007: Increasing the Size Of The Army And Marine Corps - Mackenzie Eaglen

Giving the National Guard What It Needs for the Future - Mackenzie Eaglen

Ten Myths About the Defense Budget - Baker Spring

C-17 Shortfall More Evidence of a Hollow Force - James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.

Hollow Force: The Heritage Foundation's Research
A hollow force lacks the resources to provide trained and ready forces, to support ongoing operations, and to modernize. Today's military is not hollow, but it could become so in a decade or less if funding for the military isn't adequate. There are already signs that defense funding is lacking as services

Avoiding the Hollow Force: Modernizing for the Future -James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.

Avoiding the Hollow Force: Maintaining a Trained and Ready Military - James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Alane Kochems, and David Gentilli

More Signs of a Future Hollow Force? The Air Force Cuts a Corner -James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.

In the News:

In Defense of Defense Spending - James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.

Preparing the military for defeat - James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.

Strengthening America's Military - Jim Talent - National Review Online

Record U.S. Defense Spending, But Future Budgets May Decline - Gordon Lubold - The Christian Science Monitor

Increase military funding, Dole says - Barbara Barrett - Raleigh News & Observer

Proposed military spending is highest since World War 2 - Thom Shanker - New York Times

Rising cost of Iraq War may reignite public debate - The Wall Street Journal

Mullen: U.S. Military Needs Larger Slice of GNP to Modernize - John T. Bennett