Defense Secretary Ash Carter pushed back against congressional criticism of his flagship recruitment plan, saying that the Pentagon must invest in this program today to ensure a superior fighting force tomorrow.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, slammed Carter’s Force of the Future initiative last week during a confirmation hearing for Brad Carson to serve as undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.
“This initiative has been an outrageous waste of official time and resources during a period of severe fiscal constraints. It illustrates the worst aspects of a bloated and inefficient defense organization,” McCain said.
But Carter stressed that an investment in recruitment and retention needs to coincide with the military facing threats in the Middle East, North Korea, China and Russia to make sure the all-volunteer force can succeed.
“We need to do these things at the same time,” he said. “What we need to do is make sure we attract in the future … the very best and also that we can retain the very best.”
The Force of the Future includes reforms to benefits programs, including family programs and a recently-expanded maternity leave, to encourage troops to join and remain in the military instead of moving to the private sector.
McCain also criticized the program for spending money on these “expensive fringe benefits” when the Army is preparing to draw down to troop levels that officials agree is a lower ragged edge.
But Carter countered that “most of these don’t cost much money.”
Carter said he will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee in the coming weeks and looked forward to explaining the benefits of the program to lawmakers.
