Hagel Addresses Military Concerns at Forum

Senator Chuck Hagel, a second-term Republican from Nebraska whom some consider a likely candidate for president in 2008, spoke about current military challenges yesterday to a large crowd at the Kennedy School of Government’s (KSG) John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.

Hagel received attention earlier this year after a final paper written by four KSG students predicted that he would win the presidency in 2008, but the Senator started his speech off by proclaiming, “I am not here to announce my candidacy for president.”

He did say that 2008 would be a “historic election,” because neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have a clear frontrunner.

“Both parties will have an immense opportunity to frame their parties,” Hagel said.

In his speech and the subsequent questions he took from students in the KSG’s Masters of Public Policy program, Hagel addressed the importance and challenges of maintaining an all-volunteer military, while also stressing the need to make “tough choices” to deal with the current problems facing government spending.

Since the military’s switch to relying purely on volunteer soldiers in the decades since Vietnam, it has become the “best led, best trained, best equipped, and best supported” force America has ever had, Vietnam veteran Hagel said.

In spite of this strength, he pointed to many problems that have arisen as the responsibilities of the military have expanded.

“We are committed in 130 nations around the world,” he said, calling these the “largest commitments and obligations overseas since World War II.”

Falling recruitment and retention ratios caused by repeated deployments of troops to Iraq and elsewhere are making it increasingly difficult for America to live up to its commitments, Hagel said.

“Without those resources... there will be a failure of foreign policy initiatives,” he said.

Hagel added that the military needed to offer Americans more benefits like education, housing, and health care to convince them to join and stay in the military.

He also called on the United States to work harder with allies and international bodies to take some of the pressure off of American troops, saying, “We’ve essentially had no public diplomacy the past few years.”

Addressing the opposition of some politicians to U.S. involvement in organization such as the United Nations, Hagel acknowledged that “every institution is not without flaws,” but said that such institutions have done a “tremendous job” of improving the state of the world since World War II.

Hagel was critical of America’s current deficit and government spending problems, which he said would adversely affect the government’s ability to properly fund the military.

“We have about a $44 trillion dollar unfunded liability” from Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, he said to the young audience. “We can’t saddle you with these kinds of burdens.”

“Governing is about making tough choices,” said Hagel, who added that the current congress is not doing an adequate job of promoting sound policy in regards to taxation and spending.

“Yes, we’re going to have to cut spending, and yes, we’re going to have to raise revenue,” Hagel said.

Hagel concluded by saying that the war in Iraq has provided an opportunity to see the all-volunteer army in extended combat for the first time, and to recognize the problems with it that need to be addressed.

“Its the real first test... We’ve found some big gaps,” he said, but “the all voluntary army works.”

—Staff writer Evan H. Jacobs can be reached at ehjacobs@fas.harvard.edu.