The Nike perspective – Just Do It – is the appropriate perspective to re-building the US military after Afghanistan. Make no bones about it, a major cultural shift and re-orientation is required.
One can take the approach of debating at 50,000 feet whilst doing nothing practical to rebuild the force, or one can sequester and set in motion a black hole strategy, or one can recognize that the key building blocks are already at hand and we just need to get on with it.
What are some of the key building blocks?
How can those building blocks be assembled into an effective post-Afghanistan military force and strategy?
How can the new platforms be leveraged as part of an overall strategic re-design? How will an effective US approach intersect with global allies?
Can the US have an effective arms export strategy in the years ahead if it does not embrace the new platforms ready to be built now?
How can we harvest the best and leave the rest from the past decade of land-based war?
The Second Line of Defense Forum is dedicated to getting on with it.
How can we put in motion change, which is effective in the short term but builds for the mid and long-term?
Simply cutting budgets will not yield either cost savings or strategic renaissance.
What can be accomplished in the next 2-3 years other than downsizing, cutting and not getting it.
As Lt. General (Retired) Deptula put it clearly:
It appears that for many folks their only focus is eliminating cost. That is an approach, but it eliminates effectiveness as well. “Saving” money by eliminating ways and means to increase combat effectiveness seems the focus of some.
And for a look at Deptula’s own approach seen in the ISR domain
http://www.sldforum.com/2012/04/an-isr-paradigm-shift-shaping-cost-effective-capabilities/