Trump signs orders on rebuilding military and 'extreme vetting'
WASHINGTON — President Trump charged his new Defense secretary with rebuilding the military and announced an executive order to clamp down on refugee admissions in the United States during a visit Friday to the Pentagon.
The presidential national security memorandum — a never-before-seen form of presidential directive — calls for a 30-day review of military readiness. It requires the the Pentagon and Office of Management and Budget to come up with a plan to bolster the military, and calls for an examination of the nation's nuclear arsenal and missile-defense capabilities.
Trump signed the memorandum after a swearing-in ceremony for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. Trump called the former Marine general "a man of action" in whom he has "total confidence."
"Our military strength will be questioned by no one, but neither will our dedication to peace," Trump said.
In a signing ceremony in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes, the president also signed a separate executive order that he said would "keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America." In signing the two orders together, Trump drew a connection between migration and national security. "We want to make sure we don’t want to admit into our country the very terrorists that our soldiers are fighting overseas," he said.
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Trump's directive did not specifically mention the Islamic State, but Trump also received a briefing by military brass on plans to expand the pace and scope of the bombing campaign against targets in Iraq and Syria. That could be accomplished by providing more aerial spy planes and other assets from the military and intelligence communities, said Scott Murray, a retired Air Force colonel who helped direct the effort to target ISIL fighters and their infrastructure.
Commanders could also re-examine limits on the number of civilian casualties that the military risks when it hits targets of the Islamic State, also referred to as ISIL or ISIS, Murray said. Known as the “non-combatant value,” the rule restricts the number of civilians who can be put at risk in an airstrike. Last year, the military delegated the authority for those attacks from higher headquarters to top officers in the field. The result was more airstrikes.
Special operations forces could be deployed to provide on-the-ground guidance for bombs in real-time, Murray said. Basing A-10 ground-attack jets in Turkey would allow them to loiter over targets for longer periods, he said.
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After Trump's visit, Mattis expressed gratitude for Trump's support and said he "shares the president's goal of ensuring our military leaders have the support they need to accelerate the campaign against ISIS, and to build combat readiness now and for the future," said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, in a statement.
Last week in his inaugural address, Trump decried the state of U.S. military forces and has called to bolster them. The United States has “subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing the sad depletion of our military,” Trump said.
Friday's memo called on the Pentagon to develop a plan aimed at addressing the military's readiness to fight, including manpower shortages, insufficient maintenance and funding needed for fuel and ammunition.
During the campaign, Trump called for a significant buildup of the Navy. He called for the fleet increase its strength from 274 ships to 350, a 27% boost.
The Army has already begun to increase its ranks. Legislation approved last year would reverse the reduction of soldiers planned by President Barack Obama, boosting the size of the Army by 16,000 to 476,000 soldiers. ]
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