So, what do we need? First and foremost, we need an eyes-open, rational appraisal of what threats the country needs to defend against. Perhaps we need to be more succinct: What is War in the age of global terror?

We Need People: Our armed forces, particularly the boots-on-the-ground U.S. Army and Marine Corps, are shorthanded. We need more, especially more of the experienced, knowledgeable men and women who make things work.

We Need Training: In particular, we need marksmanship training. We need lots of ammunition and many more rifle ranges to shoot it on, and time on the schedule to practice.

We Need Logistics: Nobody does logistics moving stuff from where it is to where it s going to be used better than the U.S. military. But we are faced with the world s most monumentally difficult logistical equation: supporting American combat forces deployed around the world. We need to be better organized so that the right stuff in sufficient quantities is delivered in a timely manner to where it s needed. For example, we need airlift. All the pointy-nosed, supersonic fighters in the world aren t capable of transporting an infantry battalion to a combat zone or following up with a pallet-load of ammunition to resupply the shooters. And for the massive amounts of stuff, particularly really heavy stuff, needed by American forces in the field, we need better sealift.

We Need Guns and Gear: An experienced noncommissioned firearms instructor says that the standard M16 round used by most of the American military doesn t work real well on skinny people. We saw that in Mogadishu where emaciated Somalis took repeated hits and kept on shooting. The 5.56[mm round] just seems to zip through torsos without much muscle. . . . We need more and better body armor. Tragically, we even need adequate quantities of bandages, which were in short supply in 2005and 2006. And, we need spare parts for the equipment we ve already bought and paid for.

In this provocative examination of the American defense establishment, critically acclaimed author and military historian Barrett Tillman provides expert analysis of American force structure and the challenges of the real new world order. Engagingly written, What We Need also provides workable prescriptions for how we can get not just more bang for our buck, but how we can get much more appropriate bang as well the bang we need.

With the U.S. military struggling to adapt to the new world order of stateless warfare as exemplified in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon continues to buy extremely expensive weapon systems it seldom if ever uses: advanced fighters, stealth bombers, boomer submarines, and ballistic missiles, just to name a few.

· Why, then, do our soldiers still carry unreliable forty-year-old rifles?

· Why are they without adequate body armor?

· Why do their vehicles have makeshift protection, at best?

· Why aren t they getting the medical care they deserve?

At this critical time in the history of America s armed forces, author Barrett Tillman gets down to business and offers remedies and solutions. In easily accessible, often humorous prose, Tillman throws back the curtains of pretense and excuse, cutting deeply into the core issues. If you ve ever wondered why the U.S. military can t thrive on an annual budget of $440,000,000,000 that s right: four hundred forty and nine more zeroes! you are about to find out.

What We Need includes a detailed examination of the military industrial complex, expert analysis of American force structure and the challenges of the real new world order, and prescriptions for how we can get more bang and the bang we need for our buck.

Iconoclastic and unfailingly irreverent, this book is a must read for all Americans who are concerned about our national defense.