Rising threats shrinking military. The memorial remind us of many things, first of course of the uncommon valor of our troops. But it also remind us that it can be a dangerous world out there. Our military never knows who it will be called upon to travel overseas and accomplish a mission. As much as you desire peace there is no replacement for a military that is strong and ready. September 2015 we are witnessing a military funeral but a uss simpson was being decommissioned. The simpson was the last u. S. War ship to engage in ship to ship combat in 1988 during operation praying mantis. Three Iranian Naval vessels and two small boats were sung or severely damaged and must no they will protect our ships, they threaten us, they will pay a price. Not that long ago the navy had many of the class. Now they are all decommissioned. It is not just the navy saying goodbye to old friends. In march 2014 the army bid farewell to the warrior helicopter a work force of the air calorie in iraq and afghanistan. All of the pilots will be done all of the aircraft will be gone. It will only be in the history books that people even know the role they play. In the air force the president has capped the no. Of f 22 stealth fighters, far short of the no. Originally envisioned. The budget is a zero sum game. If more money goes to f 22s it is our troops and citizens who lose. These actions reflect a trend, numerous military programs have been scrapped including the combat search and rescue helicopter the armys future combat vehicle program, the navys next generation cruise and several Missile Defense systems such as the third site Missile Defense plan for poland and the czech republic. Along with the down sizing is a major reduction in the troops themselves. For instance, the armys active force is expected to drop to the smallest since before world wa. 450 soldiers. We have cut the military to the lowest levels, yet we are facing a world that is the most complex environment we have faced since at least the end of world war ii. Retired three star general Michael Flynn ran the Defense Intelligence agency during the Obama Administration. Frankly the United States of america is in a less strong position today because of the readiness and the size of our armed forces. I spoke with robert gates, secretary of defense in the last years of the Bush Administration and the early years of the Obama Administration. He told me president obama promised him there wouldnt be any significant changes in the military budget for a while. Overall did he keep to his word . I think that began to fray. Fray may be too gentle a word. Before too long gates found himself cutting hundreds of billions from the defense budget. That was only the start. Gates was informed the president wanted to announce even more cuts. Over the last two years secretary bob gates has courageously taken on wasteful spending spending 400 billion in current and future spending. I believe we can do that again. What was your relacks . Reaction . I guess i felt double crossed after all of those years in washington, i was naive. The cuts werent about economicsy so much as a recent change. You told the staffers the tax cuts sent a strategic message abroad, the United States is going home to cut a deal with iran and china while you can. I think overall it has had that impact. You are send ago message to the rest of the world that you are basically he retreating. You meet with president obama and you at the time him the way you will compensate from cuts and more American Kids will die because of our decisions. What was his response to that . I think he acknowledged it. What i was pitching a the a minimum was the world doesnt seem to be getting better. Before you head down a path of deep cuts in defense, why dont you take it kind of slow . It was one of those things where i lost the argument. I think that he sees the military actually as something that is more dangerous to the world. I think that he looks at us. I do. I think he looks at the United States military and sees it as a threatening application around the world than actually as a useful tool. How much more dangerous do you think the world is now than it was seven, eight years ago . I think more dangerous, far more dangerous. The Obama Administration has been tightening the belt of the military. Is this going done to match a slimmed down version of American Foreign policy . We will look at that when we return. Is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student . Is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves . Is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the Natural World . Whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. Tiaa. To put in dr. Scholls active series insoles. They help reduce wear and tear on my legs, becuase they have triple zone protection. And reduce shock by 40 . So i feel like im ready to take on anything. Our diminished military didnt come about simply due to cost cutting measures. Some see it part and parcel of this administrations particular view of americas place in the world. On the night he was elected barack obama promised a different story of Foreign Policy. The new dawn of American Leadership is at hand. It didnt take long to see the new leadership in action. On march 6th, it 009 Hillary Clinton pressed a reset button with russia promising a new era of better relations. June 4th, 2009, president obama gave a speech in cairo promising a new beginning with the muslim world. Attention has been fed by colonialism. He had a confidence coming in as president , 2009 that he could altar fundamental alter fundamentally the relationship with the muslim world. Joe lieberman was director of homeland security. The message he sent was that the United States was no longer going to exercise the leadership of the world, which incidentally through democratic and republican president ial administrations from the end of the war right up until this time had been the great guarantor of security and prosperity and freedom in the world. Jeffery gold burg interviewed barack obama on his Foreign Policy tried to explain the president s approach. Therefore we have to send 50 cruz missiles to deal with that problem. What he wants to do he says is break washington of the habit that they come with potential military solution. It was clear he had a new take but the question remained what would president obama actually do . He was against the war in iraq, but his military people warned against a hasty with trawdrawaw. It was important we try to maintain a military presence there in order to make sure that the gains that had been achieved with a lot of blood by the United States as well as iraqis that those gains could be maintained. Leon pinetta was president obamas secretary of defense from 2011 to 2013. Thats why the pentagon supported maintaining a presence. The key to preserving an American Military presence in iraq was to negotiate a stay behind force. The president would have to take the lead. The only chance we would have had for an agreement would have been his intensive involvement personally and that didnt happen. So on december 18th, 2011, the last convoy of u. S. Troops pulled out of iraq. While all that was happening, the iarab spring spread through out the world. Demonstrations riot ns and civil wars, people challenging their leaders. On january 25th, 2011, egyptians gathered in cairos square to protest the policies that egyptian president mubarak long time ally. I always considered it critical to our ability to provide stability in the middle east. When it game apparent mubarak had to go the military urged caution. But the president pushed for his immediate removal. The entire fashinational sec team recommended unanimously handling mubarak differently than we did. And the president took the advice of three junior back venturers in terms of how to treat mubarak. Many saying mr. President you have to be on the right side of history and i would be sitting there at the table if we can just figure that out we would be a long way ahead. I think he i dont think he believes that general should be trying to influence policy. On february 11th, must be bar re mubarak resigned. The wheels of history turns at a blinding pace. The happiest day was when mubarak left. Muhammad morsi was elected of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypts nextdoor neighbor libya also went up in flames. The countrys dictator Muammar Gaddafi had been cooperating with the u. S. Since the invasion of iraq in 2003. Many voices around the world were demanding he be removed from power. Once again the president s top military advisors counselled caution when he sided with those who urged him to support the over throw of cgaddafi. The secretary of fence went to extraordinary measures. Did you tell your subordinates to limit the amount of information they gave to the white house about military options available in liberia . I said i dont want any military plans or options going to the white house i havent seen. You write it more bluntly dont give white house staff too much information on the military options. They dont understand it. Pretty much. It was a little blunt. You had concerns about that . Running military operations out of the white house. The experience we had had with that in vietnam didnt work so well. On march 19th, 20011 president obama siting humanitarian concerns ordered the military too leave the coalition to confront gaddafi. The libyan leader was captured and killed by a mob, eliciting this response from the secretary of state. We came, we saw, he died. Then theres syria on august 20th, 2012, after the Syrian Regime led by Bashar Alassad threatened to use chemical weapons against the enemies in the civil war. President obama put him on notice. A red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons being moved around or being utilized. He prepared to strike if assad did indeed cross that red line. On august 21st, 2015, assad regime used the chemical weapons to kill hundreds of men, women and children. How would america respond . President obama ordered his military to stand down. They used chemical weapons against their own people and we did nothing. We demonstrated weakness instead of strength. We will have more on the results of president obamas Foreign Policy later. When we return we look at how he is transforming our military from the ground up. I take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn because you cant beat zero heartburn ahhh the sweet taste of victory prilosec otc. One pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. There it is. This is where i met your grandpa. Right under this tree. man some things are Worth Holding onto. Theyre hugging the tree. man thats why we got a subaru. Or was it that tree . man the twentysixteen subaru outback. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. The military is going through a trend. It has a solution in how it deals with itself. When you are standing side by side ain life or death situatios next to other warriors, you have to know in the bottom of your soul that those warriors are going to stand with you. Mike waltz special forces Company Commander as well as special advisor to Vice President cheney is referring to what is sometimes called the warrior culture. You have to have that bond and anything that interferes with that bond needs to be treated very, very, very carefully. Which is why some critics of barack obama oppose and fear the way the president utilizes the armed forces. They feel hes more comfortable with social change than military command. This president has imposed a political agenda on the military. The president of the center for military readiness. He has done it by redefining the military as a Civil Rights Institution rather than the institution that defends this country. You wrote the president showed real passion only one issue concerning the military his decision to over turn dont ask dont tell. This is one area where i saw him become angry when things werent moving as requesticily as he wanted them to move. I didnt see that anger at the lack of progress on really any other issue i was involved with. Dont ask dont tell was one of the first changes imposed the Obama Administration, but it was hardly the last. Recently in fort gordon georgia hundreds were summoned to a presentation about white, male heterosexual privilege and the need to discuss oppression and the patriarch key. There was an exercise required of some rotc cadets last year. We have heard some interesting things, the if a kt that male rotc cadets were pressured by the military to walk around College Campuses in womens high heels in order to demonstrate their disapproval of the quoteunquote rape culture. I found that entire incident bizarre. When i was in rotc cadet i was doing pushups and running until i through up if my boots werent shined to the level they needed to be. Even more controversial on december 3rd, 2015, the Obama Administration removed all restrictions on women serving in Ground Combat units. You will be able to serve as Army Rangers Green Berets marine seals, air force para jumpers and Everything Else that was previously only to only men. By opening that door you are simply saying if that is something you are interested in doing here are the standards. Congresswoman, a member of the Hawaii National guard served two tours in iraq. If you meet those standard you should be able to serve there whether you are a man or pa woman. Critics say it is not that simple. The idea that men and women are interchangeable especially at the higher level of the combat arm is utterly absurd. June eden served with the second marine force in fallujah. The standards will be lowered either normally or informally. There was no such thing as gender neutral. Sexes are not neutral. The congresswoman contends lifting the combat restriction the military is recognizing reality. Woman have been serving incredibly and courageously in our military for a very long time. We have evseen over a decade aga woman who is actually in the National Guard was awarded the silver star for her bravery in close quarters combat. A lot of the advocates for women in combat say women have been fighting in combat for decades. It is just not true. I was out there in the infantry on the outskirts of fallujah and we would first go in for explosives. We were in danger all day every day we were doing that. That is not the same as hunting the enemy where he lives house to house, cave to cave, mostly on foot. Critics point out under the new law women will be ordered into combat whether they want to be or not. I am sorry, but America Needs to think about their daughter in a hand to hand fight in a cage no rules against isis fighters. When the army did an official survey the results came back that 92. 5 percent of the army women surveyed wanted nothing to do with combat assignments. What concerns me with this administration in deal with the warrior culture so critical to the success of our military, they dont understand it and often times they mistrust it. If you turn the military into a social experiment rather than a fighting force that has to meet certain standards and have a certain level of readiness to defend this nation, thats incredibly dangerous for the United States and frankly as a leader of the free world it is dangerous to the world. Some fear social change is required of the military may cause trouble some day. Others fear they already have. Thats next. Audi pilotless vehicles have conquered highways, mountains, and racetracks. And now much of that same advanced technology is found in the new audi a4. With one the allnew audi a4, with available traffic jam assist. If you have moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis isnt it time to let the real you shine through . Introducing otezla, apremilast. Otezla is not an injection, or a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. Some people who took otezla saw 75 clearer skin after 4 months. And otezlas prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Otezla may increase the risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Ask your dermatologist about otezla today. Otezla. Show more of you. So far we have seen how the Obama Administration at least according to the krity ticks used the military in a different way. Those critics maintain this new attitude has already cost us. One thing we know the Obama Administration has changed about the u. S. Military, the words they use to describe certain activities. What did you make of the fact that under this administration the pentagon was required to refer to military actions against islamic terrorism as overseas Contingency Operations and that the acts of terrorism were to be