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Rubio Campaign Press Release - Marco Rubio Wants to Rebuild Our Military. Here's His Detailed Plan to Do It.

November 05, 2015

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As President, Marco will:

Restore Military Strength

  • Work to return to Secretary Gates' fiscal year 2012 budget baseline over the course of his first term and begin to undo the damage caused by $1 trillion in indiscriminate defense cuts.
  • Plug critical operations and maintenance shortfalls, restore military readiness through accelerated training and exercises, and make targeted investments in urgent modernization priorities.
  • Build a "full spectrum" force able to maintain security simultaneously in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Recapitalize the Navy

  • Immediately begin to increase the size of the Navy to a minimum of 323 ships by 2024.
  • Work with our allies in Asia to forward deploy a second aircraft carrier in the Pacific while increasing the carrier force from 10 to 12.
  • Restore continuous, credible naval combat power to the Mediterranean Sea.
  • Build the new Ohio-class Replacement (ORP) ballistic submarine to ensure a credible and survivable 21st century strategic deterrent.
  • Build at least two attack submarines every year to preserve America's undersea dominance amid intensifying naval competition.
  • Fully integrate the F-35B and push ahead with development of a new amphibious-assault vehicle.
  • Build an amphibious fleet of 38 ships (from today's 30) to meet the Marine Corps wartime lift requirement.
  • Reverse reductions to the operating status of 11 of our 22 current cruisers.
  • Replenish depleted inventories of critical munitions while accelerating development and procurement of new advanced strike and anti-ship missiles.
  • Fully fund Navy-Marine Corps maintenance and modernization accounts.

Modernize the Air Force

  • Invest in better Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance capabilities at the theater and strategic levels.
  • Prioritize returning Air Force readiness to pre-Obama levels.
  • Accelerate F-35A procurement.
  • Develop and field the Long Range Strike Bomber capable of both conventional and nuclear missions to replace our current aging fleet of B-52, B-1, and B-2 bombers.
  • Reposture the tactical Air Force for increased presence in Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Northeast Asia.
  • Ensure that the KC-46 tanker program stays on track to replace the aging KC-135 fleet.
  • Ensure development of the Long-Range Stand-Off weapon.

Strengthen the Ground Forces

  • Reverse the current cuts and maintain the Marine Corps and the Army at their pre-9/11 end-strengths of 182,000 and 490,000 respectively.
  • Strengthen international partnerships to reduce the need to deploy ground troops.
  • Work to return a corps headquarters to Europe and station additional BCTs in Eastern Europe to deter Russian aggression.
  • Reexamine the Army's mobility and prepositioning to respond to crises in the Pacific.
  • Continue to invest in Army Special Operations capabilities to remain at the cutting edge of the continuing war on terrorism.
  • Maintain the Army's proficiency across the full spectrum of war in order to combat state actors, defeat non-state threats, and shape the security environment to America's advantage.
  • Revamp the Army's acquisition system and specifically look at options to modernize its aging vehicle and helicopter fleets.

Reform Military Personnel and Benefits

  • Reform the military benefit structure and military career paths and specializations to attract and retain high quality personnel to the military, while preserving a sustainable balance between training and procurement needs.
  • Continue recent efforts to reform military retirement, education, and healthcare on the basis of the recommendations of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission.
  • Ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs is accountable and that our veterans have access to the best treatment possible when they return from the battlefield.

Transform the Pentagon Bureaucracy

  • Optimize the Pentagon workforce by shrinking the Pentagon bureaucracy and achieving the correct balance between uniformed personnel, civilians, and contractors.
  • Facilitate a more-technologically agile and adaptable workforce that can leverage technological evolution.
  • Develop fellowship programs in the private sector for defense department personnel to renew skills to comport with industry standards.

Overhaul the Acquisition Process

  • Streamline the acquisition process to prevent costly mistakes, hold private contractors accountable, and field top of the line technology to future warfighters.
  • Remove barriers and strengthen exemptions for commercial acquisitions allowing the Pentagon to leverage cutting edge commercial technology, such as data analytics, cloud computing, 3-D printing, and robotics.

Modernize Missile Defense for the 21st Century

  • Expand missile defense by speeding up deployment of interceptors in Europe, deploying a third site in the United States, and ensuring that advanced programs are adequately funded.
  • Work interoperably with allies on missile defense — we should encourage the spread of missile defense technology as a solution to the spread of ballistic and cruise missiles.
  • Increase the Missile Defense Agency's Research & Development budget and create a rapid-fielding office to focus on fielding directed energy weapons, railguns, UAV-enabled defenses, and other means to defeat a threat missile across its entire flight trajectory.

Modernize and Protect Strategic Assets

  • Ensure continued freedom of access to space in the face of a potential adversary's development of anti-satellite missiles.
  • Modernize the nuclear arsenal and stop the Obama administration's proposed cuts to the nuclear arsenal.
  • Pursue arms control only when it is in America's interest and when prospective negotiating partners comply with their commitments to us.

Promote Innovation for the 21st Century

  • Ensure U.S. military technological superiority by prioritizing key areas of defense technology that will counter those adversaries and competitors seeking to undermine our military predominance.
  • Improve anti-submarine capabilities; procure advanced air warfare capabilities; sustain our advantage in precision strike from land, air, and sea; and invest in electronic warfare capabilities.
  • Expand the use of rapid acquisition processes for key innovative technologies.

Posture the Force for the Cyber Era

  • Improve cyber defense capabilities by hardening DoD systems and examining the sourcing of our weapons components.
  • Outline a declaratory policy so our adversaries understand the consequences of attacking our computer systems.
  • Improve offensive cyber capabilities and ensure that Cyber Command cyber mission forces have the tools and authorities to perform the cyber offensive mission.
  • Better integrate cyber threats and cyber aspects of modern warfare in training, doctrine, and exercises across the combatant commands.
  • Ensure that the cyber threat is appropriately prioritized by all services; study whether cyber should be its own service rather than a mission of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force.

Marco Rubio, Rubio Campaign Press Release - Marco Rubio Wants to Rebuild Our Military. Here's His Detailed Plan to Do It. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/325933

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