From Cold War to the War on Terror

From the 1950’s to the 1980’s, America and the USSR (or Soviet Union) was engaged into the Cold War. Battlegrounds such as Vietnam were fought over the ideals of Capitalism or Communism. Why was it so cold? It is because there was an arms race to see which ideal was going to win over the other. During this period, the military has been and was constantly training in preparation over this type of warfare.

Many advances were made upon both sides. The technology, space race, and even other technologies were introduced during this era. However, no one can really forget the thought of nuclear winter and the buildup of nuclear weapons. The military demand was to prepare for the next conflict between the two superpowers.

When the USSR finally collapsed in 1991, American President’s have been making the effort to re-establish our military and prepare for future warfare. President’s Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and even Bill Clinton, made efforts into reducing the Cold War military and establish a different fighting force. This has been a struggle on Capitol Hill as to make decisions regarding our military spending and reduction

President Nixon started the disarmament talks, while President Reagan took up that pedestal. President Reagan started with the Arms Reduction of Nuclear Weapons. President George H.W. Bush struggled with terroristic activities in the Middle East in regards to Iran and Iraq, but still reduced our Cold War military. President Clinton, kept reducing the military budget in the billions, closed at least 79 bases, and removed 40,000 troops from Europe. Read about here.

When President George W. Bush came in, his reactions to the terrorist activities really spurred the change into the military budget. For those troops lost during President Clinton’s presidency and the reduction in spending, America really had a struggle into mobilizing the necessary man power to fight the war in Iraq.

The government has been back and forth in regards to the war effort that is going on. If we are to follow the news relating the amount of people needed to go fight, there is a dire need to have much more soldiers. This demand is all based upon the changeover into having a different fighting force. Many people complain about how there is such a high demand for soldiers these days, but this effort is all based upon the many different jobs needed to be filled to support our fighting forces.