How to Trim the Pentagon—And Create a Flexible, World-Class Military

There's a battle raging in Washington, D.C., over the direction of the military. There are two key factors pushing and pulling the debate: emerging threats that demand responses and a $15 trillion deficit that must be reduced. These conflicting imperatives present great risks, but also represent a historic opportunity.

America could come out of this process with a leaner, more flexible military--but only if cuts are made in tandem with a transformation in how the military fights. These changes involve the Pentagon's core missions of nuclear deterrence, regime change, humanitarian aid, and pinprick airstrikes. To transform means making smart investments as well as cuts. We based the following POPULAR MECHANICS plan on the capabilities of possible foes. Alas, some of the problematic programs singled out for elimination by politicians and policy wonks are the best hedges against these growing threats. Our focus is on frontline hardware and strategy. (We'll let others recommend how deeply to cut troop pay and retirement benefits.)

Funding for overseas deployments totaled $162 billion in 2010. With that in mind, the PM plan was designed to increase the flexibility of deployments and decrease their cost.

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