Under Obama, Our Military’s Strength Has Significantly Decreased

Obama’s foreign policy has been quite soft-spoken and has whittled America’s “big stick” down to kindling.

U.S. President Barack Obama during the 116th National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pa., on July 21, 2015. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

President Barack Obama is not likely to be mistaken for Teddy Roosevelt. Yes, his foreign policy has been quite soft-spoken—especially when addressing openly hostile states such as Iran. But he has whittled America’s “big stick” down to kindling.

While “resetting” with Russia and “engaging” with Iran, Obama has presided over a tremendous down-sizing of U.S. military strength. The Army’s manpower is down 10 percent since Obama took office. Our naval capabilities are aging and inadequate to meet our national security demands. The Air Force fields the smallest and oldest force of combat aircraft in its history. The Marines are running only about two-thirds the number of battalions they have historically needed to meet day-to-day operational demands.

Obama's foreign policy has been quite soft-spoken and has whittled America's "big stick" down to kindling.