Invest in a 21st Century Military

• Rebuild the Military for 21st Century Tasks
• Expand to Meet Military Needs on the Ground
• Lighten the Burdens on Our Brave Troops and Their Families

Build Defense Capabilities for the 21st Century

• Fully Equip Our Troops for the Missions They Face
• Rebalance our capabilities to ensure that our forces have the agility and lethality to succeed in both conventional wars and in stabilization and counter-insurgency operations
• Preserve Global Reach in the Air
• Maintain Power Projection at Sea
• Support missile defense, but ensure that it is developed in a way that is pragmatic and cost-effective
• Restore American leadership on space issues
• Protect the U.S in Cyberspace

Restore the Readiness of the National Guard and Reserves

• Provide the National Guard with the equipment it needs for foreign and domestic emergencies and time to restore and refit before deploying

Develop Whole of Government Initiatives to Promote Global Stability

• Integrate Military and Civilian Efforts
• Create a Civilian Assistance Corps (CAC)

Restore Our Alliances

• Engage Our Allies in Meeting Our Common Security Challenges
• Organize to Help Our Partners and Allies in Need

Reform Contracting

• Require the Pentagon and State Department to develop a strategy for determining when contracting makes sense, rather than continually handing off governmental jobs to well-connected companies

Military Issues

Fighting Against Violent Islamic Extremists and Terrorist Tactics

• As President, John McCain will ensure that America has the quality intelligence necessary to uncover plots before they take root, the resources to protect critical infrastructure and our borders against attack, and the capability to respond and recover from a terrorist incident swiftly
• He will ensure that the war against terrorists is fought intelligently, with patience and resolve, using all instruments of national power

Effective Missile Defense

• John McCain strongly supports the development and deployment of theater and national missile defenses

Increasing the Size of the American Military

• As requirements expand in the global war on terrorism so must our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard be reconfigured to meet these new challenges. John McCain thinks it is especially important to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps to defend against the threats we face today

Modernizing the Armed Services

• Modernizing American armed forces involves procuring advanced weapons systems that will help rapidly and decisively defeat any adversary and protect American lives
• Modernizing the armed forces also means adapting our doctrine, training, and tactics for the kind of conflicts we are most likely to face

Smarter Defense Spending

• military spending, except in time of genuine emergency, must be funded by the regular appropriations process, not by "emergency" supplementals that allow defense to be funded outside the normal budget cycle

Taking Care of Our Military Personnel and their Families

• John McCain has fought for improved military pay and benefits, and an improved quality of life for military families