The U.S. Air force is asking for a bump in its budget to combat emerging threats around the world by 2030.
"The Air Force is too small for what the nation is asking us to do,” said Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson.
The Air Force leadership says they need to be able to address quickly emerging threats from China and Russia.
“Technological advances that take place today almost daily is eye-watering,” says Randy Bogle is the Executive Director of the San Diego Military Advisory Council and a Retired Navy Pilot.
Bogle says the military here has been pushing in this direction for some time pivoting to the Pacific as China has continued to increase its military budget. “This large presence of Navy and Marine personnel we have here already serves well in to address the issues that the Air Force wants to build up their forces to also address.”
And now there is another emerging threat, “We have the Russian threat and the European theater out there so we're starting to watch that very closely as they build their ships and start showing their presence and places that haven't been in a while,” says Bogle.
The U.S. Air Force says they need a 25 percent increase in their budget, which in 2018 was nearly a $150 billion.
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There are people who feel the U.S. is spending too much on defense, including groups like Veterans for Peace.
President Trump has also asked America’s allies to contribute more to fight terrorism.
Bogle says this budget increase for the Air Force will be evaluated internally and will need to be presented to Congress.
But says ultimately the Air Force and all the branches need to be ready to fight on both coasts - and that takes foresight. “Our enemies and foes are very smart folks they really have come a long way and they're still trying to get ahead of us in many cases where they think they can.”
