Why can't we consolidate our military branches?

Question

Why do we need to have army, navy, air force, marines. All of which have their own bases around the world and all have their own top ranking, highly paid officers. Not to mention the national guard and coast guard. Why can't there be just a few bases around the world, in key places. Then we could save Trillions of dollars and also have more security in our own country. Do you agree?

Answer 1

I don't agree with SaintNick's answer at all.  First of all, the Marines do work with the Navy but the mindset of each branch differ.  The Marines have a "kill everything" motto which can not be found in the Navy where their occupation is mainly medical or operating a carrier (except the SEALS). And just because you intergrate 2 branchs into one, the military bases and expenses don't just disappear.  Our government will still budget the same amt ot US dollars and there will be the same number of personnel on each base.  The only difference may be that the name of the base might change from "Camp ......" to "Fort......"

Answer 2

Last time I checked BRAC was doing a pretty d**n good job of shorting the military as far as bases and benefits for the military are concerned.

If you are so concerned with trying to keep more security in our country I highly recommend that you sign on the dotted line, swear an oath, and work to protect your country.

Answer 3

It wouldn't work because of diseconomies of scale -- it's the same reason there are no national chains of dry cleaners.

It is often easy to see economies of scale. Having a base that holds twice as many people is not twice as expensive. However, it's often much harder to see diseconomies of scale.

In general, the larger an organization is, the more people it needs just to keep itself coordinated. A combined military would have more officers just to coordinate its own operations, not less.

It's generally believed that our military branches are actually too large to be efficient rather than too small. So it would actually probably help to break them up more rather than consolidate them.

This is probably also the reason there has never been one great power controlling the entire planet and the reason that large empires tend to be unstable.

Answer 4

This is a great question. I think we should consolidate. Atleast the Air Force back into the Army....maybe Marines back into the Navy.

It wouldn't really reduce that many bases, but it would reduce alot of management and infrastructure. Several other countries operate with consolidated branched just fine.

The only reason not to would be because we are already operating this way and it would be very difficult (and costly initially) to consolidate them.

Write your Congressmen and tell them how you feel.

Answer 5

There are some bases that need to be closed down, for example Nebo base in my town is practically a ghost base, and 30 miles away is Ft. Irwin where it's very busy as for making them smaller I don't think so, because we need to be spreaded so that we can act to a disaster faster.

Answer 6

I completely disagree. The missions of each branch are so different it would cause a lot of confusion to lump them all together. Having the separate branches allows the focus to be on the specific mission each branch is designed for.  

Answer 7

The more spread out your forces are the harder it is for them to be wiped out in one attack. As for you comment on the Coast Guard, If I'm off the coast of Myrtle Beach I don't want a rescue helo coming from Key West or Long Island to rescue me if my boat is sinking.

Answer 8

Different Uniforms.

DIFFERENT MISSIONS...

Same Flag..

Its the mission that makes the difference.