[US Naval Institute] Morning Keynote: Ms. Christine Fox, Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense America's armed forces need to be downsized, Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Christine Fox during the opening address at WEST 2014 Tuesday at the San Diego Convention Center.
"The fiscal uncertainty and continued budget austerity... require that we make tough and far-sighted choices now in order to achieve a ready and modern force in the future," she said.
I'll believe you're serious when you propose canceling the F-35...
"The strategic environment, the fiscal environment, the political and bureaucratic realities of the defense enterprise -- point to the conclusion that the military must get smaller over the next five to 10 years," Fox said. "It is not an ideal course of action. It contains real risks -- as a smaller force, no matter how ready or technologically advanced, can go to fewer places and do fewer things. But given current realities, it is the only plausible way to generate the military's technological superiority for the next generation -- to avoid the prospect of a `hollow force' in the future."
Fox also addressed the Pentagon's renewed focus in Asia. But she emphasized that the so-called pivot is not all about China. Threats are growing "not just from advanced military powers, but from the proliferation of more advanced, precise anti-ship munitions around the globe," Fox said.
I'm curious as to the depth of knowledge the young Ms. Fox has with regard to naval munitions, or any other defense systems or strategies for that matter.