Technology and the Reduction of the US Military

Improvements in technology have enabled the United States to save a lot of money by reducing the size of the US Military. The US Military had over 3.5 million service men and women in 1968. It is now under 1.4 million.

I spent two active duty years in Marine Air Control and Air Defense in 1967 and 1970. We had HAWK Missiles to shoot at airplanes, ASRT Air Support Radar Teams to control bombing, and the DASC Direct Air Support Squadron to control Air.

The HAWKs and ASRTs are long gone, replaced with better technology and far fewer people. The elimination of the units that provided this equipment and service saved the cost of about 3,000 Marines.

U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL 1954-2014: THE NUMBERS

YEAR	ARMY	NAVY	MARINE CORPS	AIR FORCE	TOTAL
1954	1,404,598	725,720	223,868	947,918	3,302,104
1955	1,109,296	660,695	205,170	959,946	2,935,107
1956	1,025,778	669,925	200,780	909,958	2,806,441
1957	997,994	677,108	200,861	919,835	2,795,798
1958	898,925	641,005	189,495	871,156	2,600,581
1959	861,964	626,340	175,571	840,435	2,504,310
1960	873,078	617,984	170,621	814,752	2,476,435
1961	858,622	627,089	176,909	821,151	2,483,771
1962	1,066,404	666,428	190,962	884,025	2,807,819
1963	975,916	664,647	189,683	869,431	2,699,677
1964	973,238	667,596	189,777	856,798	2,687,409
1965	969,066	671,448	190,213	824,662	2,655,389
1966	1,199,784	745,205	261,716	887,353	3,094,058
1967	1,442,498	751,619	285,269	897,494	3,376,880
1968	1,570,343	765,457	307,252	904,850	3,547,902
1969	1,512,169	775,869	309,771	862,353	3,460,162
1970	1,322,548	692,660	259,737	791,349	3,066,294
1971	1,123,810	623,248	212,369	755,300	2,714,727
1972	810,960	588,043	198,238	725,838	2,323,079
1973	800,973	564,534	196,098	691,182	2,252,787
1974	783,330	545,903	188,802	643,970	2,162,005
1975	784,333	535,085	195,951	612,751	2,128,120
1976	779,417	524,678	192,399	585,416	2,081,910
1977	782,246	529,895	191,707	570,695	2,074,543
1978	771,624	530,253	190,815	569,712	2,062,404
1979	758,852	523,937	185,250	559,455	2,027,494
1980	777,036	527,153	188,469	557,969	2,050,627
1981	781,419	540,219	190,620	570,302	2,082,560
1982	780,391	552,996	192,380	582,845	2,108,612
1983	779,643	557,573	194,089	592,044	2,123,349
1984	780,180	564,638	196,214	597,125	2,138,157
1985	780,787	570,705	198,025	601,515	2,151,032
1986	780,980	581,119	198,814	608,199	2,169,112
1987	780,815	586,842	199,525	607,035	2,174,217
1988	771,847	592,570	197,350	576,446	2,138,213
1989	769,741	592,652	196,956	570,880	2,130,229
1990	732,403	579,417	196,652	535,233	2,043,705
1991	710,821	570,262	194,040	510,432	1,985,555
1992	610,450	541,883	184,529	470,315	1,807,177
1993	572,423	509,950	178,379	444,351	1,704,103
1994	541,343	468,662	174,158	426,327	1,610,490
1995	508,559	434,617	174,639	400,409	1,518,224
1996	491,103	416,735	174,883	389,001	1,471,722
1997	491,707	395,564	173,906	377,385	1,438,562
1998	483,880	382,338	173,142	367,470	1,406,830
1999	479,426	373,046	172,641	360,590	1,385,703
2000	482,170	373,193	173,321	355,654	1,384,338
2001	480,801	377,810	172,934	353,571	1,385,116
2002	486,542	383,108	173,733	368,251	1,411,634
2003	499,301	382,235	177,779	375,062	1,434,377
2004	499,543	373,197	177,480	376,616	1,426,836
2005	492,728	362,941	180,029	353,696	1,389,394
2006	505,402	350,197	180,416	348,953	1,384,968
2007	522,017	337,547	186,492	333,495	1,379,551
2008	543,645	332,228	198,505	327,379	1,401,757
2009	553,044	329,304	202,786	333,408	1,418,542
2010	566,045	328,303	202,441	334,196	1,430,985
2011	565,463	325,123	201,157	333,370	1,425,113
2012	550,064	318,406	198,193	332,959	1,399,622
2013	528,070	319,838	195,848	326,573	1,370,329
2014	515,888	319,120	192,787	326,259	1,354,054

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