Battleland

General Fogleman: Back to the Future

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Air Force photo by Todd Berenger

Retired Air Force Gen. Ronald Fogleman

Ron Fogleman (Air Force chief of staff, 1994-97) is the only member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to request, and take, early retirement over a matter of principle (see why here). That makes him pretty rare, and worth listening to. He’s proposing in the latest issue of Defense News that the U.S. military, facing intense budget pressures, go back to its past:

In its current form, the force has become unaffordable…We should return to our historic roots as a militia nation.

It’s a controversial suggestion, but Fogleman – rescued in Vietnam in 1968 after his F-100 was shot down by clinging to an AH-1 Cobra gunship – has never clung to easy, predictable solutions.