[jonhohle]

That the US has the most powerful Military force in history was mentioned on a radio program that just happened to be on in the car yesterday and it made me realize how far the US has fallen from its founding ideas of not having a standing army. But what can be done? If not the US, some other power will come in to fill the void.

[warner25]

This is an interesting topic. I don't think many Americans realize that the constitutional basis for the Regular Army (i.e. active duty troops) is pretty weak: Congress is given the power "To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;" From that perspective, it's kind of amazing that we've maintained it for almost 250 years and built it into the world's most capable land warfare service.

With that said, and I say all this as a career US Army officer, I think our advantage in land warfare is much more narrow than our advantages in sea and air power[1]. And the constitution does give Congress the power to simply "provide and maintain a navy;"

[1] For that matter, our Army's greatest advantages probably stem from our sea and air power. We can deploy anywhere in the world and be sustained by sea and air. The Army's own aviation branch is larger and more powerful than the air forces of most other nations, and we are very good at employing air fires.