U.S. Army soldiers during Exercise Rapid Trident near Yavoriv, Lviv Region, western Ukraine, on Sept. 17, 2020. MARKIIAN LYSEIKO/ Ukrinform/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
State of Defense 2021
Our annual service-by-service look at where the U.S. military is, and where it's going.
Administration message-makers have spun the Afghanistan pullout as a major shift in resources to free up personnel and power to fight terrorism elsewhere and gird for a great-power showdown with China and Russia. But it’s really not. No major line-item changes — from end strength to the nuclear modernization plan — are expected in the White House’s first budget request, due next month. So where does that leave the military services? We answer that, and more, in Defense One's annual State of Defense 2021.