We all are aware of the speech the president delivers to a join session of Congress, the State of the Union……but there is also a report on the condition of our armed forces…..

As an analyst of international situations I am always watching the major arm of our foreign policy the military…..there is an annual report on the condition of our armed forces (prepared by a defense industry site so it is skewed a bit)…..

I you are interested in our armed forces and would like to read about the preparedness then pick a service and learn stuff…..

If we had written this State of Defense report two months ago, it would have been almost entirely different. For better or worse, President Trump brings the nation into 2019 with a new attitude and new attention to the U.S. military’s ground wars. 

By presidential order, this will be the year the U.S. ground war in Syria ends. Trump also reportedly wants a drawdown in Afghanistan, but hasn’t started planning for one, and was looking into restricting U.S. special operations forces fighting across Africa, though U.S. combat in Somalia appears to be escalating. In fact, in 2019, the sprawling footprint of the U.S. military from southwest Asia to north Africa may not change much at all.

So in the upcoming budget hearings, expect service leaders to argue that too much is being asked of too-few troops with too-few resources. That means some hard choices and some exciting ones. Read on, in Defense One’s 2019 State of Defense:

• Introduction by Kevin Baron
• State of the Army by Ben Watson
• State of the Navy by Bradley Peniston
• State of the Air Force by Marcus Weisgerber
• State of the Marines by Kevin Baron

Again….pick a branch and see what is what for 2019…..remember we are still fighting on many fronts….how will that effect or services?