National security has identified groups or people, who have infested their time

and money who want to have their voice heard. In years past, national security has

changed because of current laws, statistics, problems and events that have occurred.

Many of these have made it easy to identify the priorities of National security with

solutions that our country needs to take.

Stability in Yemen has almost completely collapsed. Russia continues to push

further into Ukraine. Tension mounts between China and its neighbors over territorial

disputes. With these growing threats around the globe, the challenges facing the U.S.

military are intimidating. You would think that these things would inspire the White

House and Congress to take their commitments to national security more seriously, but

the opposite occurred over President Obamas occupation as commander-in-chief. It is

shown that policymakers aren't fully understanding their constitutional responsibility to

provide for the common defense. One possible reason politicians have failed to

maintain the strength of the U.S. military is because they have misunderstood what

problems our security postures is facing. Today the Heritage Foundation releases its

first-ever Index of U.S. Military Strength. This publication assesses n a new way

Americas ability to uphold on of its primary Constitutional responsibilities, to provide for

the common defense. We should see that the U.S. Military should centralize its

protection on the three critical interests: safeguarding the homeland from external

attack, preventing a major power threats in key regions that would be devastating to

U.S. interests, and maintaining the freedom of the commons, or the sea, air, space, and

cyberspace that facilitates the free flow of goods and services. (Slattery). As a country,

we have been asking this question for decades now. how can we attain national
security. (Somanader). The U.S. has been trying to answer this question with the

National Security Strategy [NSS]. But as a bare outline the U.S. should have goals that

are clear, achievable, and mutually reinforcing. The U.S. needs to preserve the safety of

the American homeland and protect the integrity of the nations domestic institutions

and systems vital to that purpose. This goal requires strong Active, Guard, and Reserve

forces as well as effective intelligence, law enforcement, counter-terrorism,

cybersecurity, and immigration policies to protect the homeland and secure Americas

borders. the U.S. also needs to maintain a global balance of power in favor of Americas

security and interests and those of its friends and allies. The U.S also needs to put an

end to Nuclear materials falling into the wrong hands. (A National Security Strategy for A

New Century). This requires an armed force capable of successfully completing all of

the military missions assigned to it and fulfilling U.S. commitments to defend the

security of Americas allies and friends. The big 3 things to takeaway from this is that

the U.S. needs to make capacity and flexibility the watchwords of strategic and military

planning so as to give the President as Commander in Chief and his military leaders as

many options as possible to deal with any contingency that may arise to threaten the

nation. Avoid the trap of artificial trade-offs between non-military and military

programs dedicated to national security. And focus non-military instruments of power

and policies on supporting the discrete goals of national strategy. This means

consciously aligning U.S. diplomacy, foreign aid, public diplomacy, international trade

and financial policies, and human rights policies to advancing discrete national interests.

(Holmes)
 So as congress crafts its budget for 2016, it should properly prioritize national

defense, on of the federal governments core constitutional functions. Congress should

realize that if it does to raise the budget caps on discretionary defense spending, the

U.S. military will be unable to meet its current mission requirements. Congress should

increase its defense spending to $584 Billion. Under the Budget Control Acts (BCA)

funding levels, the active Army and Marine Corps components would fall to 420,000 and

175,000, and even the Presidents request would significantly cut the Armys end

strength. With a smaller force structure, the services would have great difficulty meeting

the defense strategy requirements. In addition, the defense should be funded at the

levels that meet the national security requirements, but under the BCA caps, the military

wont be able to meet those requirements. Unless Congress acts to raise the budget cap

on optional defense spending, the armed services will have a greater difficulty meeting

the national security requirements and can become a great force. (Febrizio).

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) leads the

U.S. Government in cryptology that encompasses both Signals Intelligence (SIGINT)

and Information Assurance (IA) products and services, and enables Computer Network

Operations (CNO) in order to gain a decision advantage for the Nation and our allies

under all circumstances. (nsa.gov). The NSA promises that We will act with integrity to

advance the rights, goals, and values of the Nation. We will adhere to the spirit and the

letter of the Constitution and the laws and regulations of the United States. We will

support and protect our troops in the field. We will combat terrorism around the globe -

when necessary, putting our lives on the line to preserve the Nation. We will provide our

policymakers, negotiators, ambassadors, law enforcement community, and military the

vital intelligence they need to protect and defend the Nation. We will defend the national

security networks vital to our Nation. We will be a trusted steward of public resources

and place prudent judgment over expediency. We will continually strive for transparency

in all our review, monitoring, and decision-making processes. We will be accountable for

our actions and take responsibility for our decisions. And we will honor Open

Government and Transparency mandates by making timely and accurate information

available to the public, subject to valid privacy, confidentiality, security or other

restrictions under existing law and policies. (nsa.gov).

Since the turn of the millennium, our Nation has underwent history's deadliest

attack of international terrorism, it has become increasingly clear that the world is not

becoming a safer place. If the United States wishes to provide U.S. security and enable

free societies and economic prosperity to flourish around the globe, the government

needs to find a new path toward maintaining a strong national defense. In the face of

these challenges, America has replied boldly, with focus and clarity of purpose, and

today we are safer, stronger, and better prepared to address the full range of

catastrophic events. Our work, however, is far from over. We remain firm in our

commitment to prevent and disrupt terrorist attacks in and on our Homeland, protect the

American people and the Nation's critical infrastructure and key properties, and

effectively respond to and recover from those incidents that do occur. Working together,

our Nation will protect the Homeland in order to sustain our way of life now and for

generations to come.
 The U.S.

and its

National Security

John Hartmann
Period 2
 Mr. Hickey
Due: 3/17/15
 Works Cited

Febrizio, Mark. "Further Defense Cuts Will Harm National Security." Daily Signal. N.p.,

13 Mar. 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

Holmes, Kim R. "What Is National Security? - 2015 Index of U.S. Military

Strength." 2015 Index of US Military Strength. The Heritage Foundation, n.d. Web. 16

Mar. 2015.

"A National Security Strategy for A New Century." A National Security Strategy for A New

Century. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

Slattery, Brian. "How We Should Approach National Security." Daily Signal. N.p.,

24 Feb. 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

Somanader, Tanya. "President Obama's National Security Strategy in 2015: Strong and

Sustainable American Leadership." The White House. The White House, 06 Feb. 2015.

Web. 16 Mar. 2015.