But there is a big difference in the military then and now. We had more deployable troops and ships. We had more planes. It just took the mind and determination of Reagan to use them more wisely. Unfortunately we are now short abot 4-6 carriers and carrier groups and many more submarines. In short we need to start rebuilding our military A.S.A.P. New technology is good as is a missle defense system. But the fact remains our basic old reliables if maintained properly and the users trained properly are our biggest asset. One should not come at the expense of the other. More focus needs to be put into getting back up to two thirds of our 1980 numbers in troops and equipment.
That Freeper couldn't have been further from the truth. Aircraft carriers will carry us far into the 21st Century and probably even beyond. We need to make many more of them. A carrier is like a portable piece of U.S. territory. We can maneuver an entire "airport" with a full fleet of military jets anyplace in the world. Timid nations like France and Saudi Arabia won't let us use their military bases to attack our enemies? No problem. We just park a few carriers off the coast and we can go about our business.
Americans fail to appreciate just how incredible our military might is. Within 24 hours, we established complete air superiority over a land-locked nation like Afghanistan. And we did it with carriers! We are the only nation in the world who can deploy such a massive military presence globally and it is aircraft carriers that make this possible.
I do not think a fleet of 25 aircraft carriers is out of the question. Too expensive? Than close a bunch of bases on the U.S. mainland. Put the bases where they can be most useful to us. On the water where they can be moved wherever we need them to be!