Military expert concurs with Mattis' assessment on the lack of combat readiness of the US

Jed Babbin, former deputy undersecretary of defense under George H.W. Bush, said he doesn’t disagree with even “one syllable” of Defense Secretary JimMattis’ recent statement about the readiness of the United States military.

He told Chris Salcedo on “The Chris Salcedo Show” today that 70 percent of the Marine corps’ F-18s are not combat ready, that 60 percent of the Navy’s allotment of the same craft are in a similar condition, and that the Air Force is also only 70 percent combat capable at this time.

Babbin said President Donald Trump was only given a small part of the military funding he asked for in the budget, and that it would take hundreds of billions of dollars and years to get the U.S. back to combat readiness.

In addition to equipment woes, he reported that many men are unable to see their families when they return home because they’re so busy training. The special operations community makes up roughly 4-5 percent of the fighting force, but takes 65 percent of the casualties.

Babbin complained that the United States has no strategy anywhere, and that before we send any more men to risk their lives for this country, “We’ve got to figure out what the blazes we’re doing," he concluded with particular vehemence.

To see more from Chris, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “The Chris Salcedo Show” weekdays 2–5 p.m. ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network.