The US defense budget is at its largest in decades, yet the Air Force’s combat-coded aircraft inventory, the Navy’s battle-force ship fleet, and the Army’s number of active-duty soldiers have all shrunk. Is this trend reversible?

The Pentagon’s creeping bureaucracy is plagued by slow-moving acquisition processes, the rise of numerous powerful defense agencies, and climbing overhead costs. Feasible improvements exist, but as Maj. Gen. Arnold L. Punaro (ret.) warns in his latest book, “The Ever-Shrinking Fighting Force” (Punaro Press, 2021), “Bad processes beat good people all the time.”

Join AEI’s Mackenzie Eaglen as she hosts Maj. Gen. Punaro — former staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee — and former Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO) for a discussion of the opportunities and challenges for securing America’s military future.