The mantra for many years in the military has been how to do “more with less.”  Presumably an indicator of efficiency, it soon became a cliché that did little to salve the workloads of military servicemembers who found themselves with more missions to accomplish — and yet fewer people and funds than in prior years.

General Raymond Odierno said it was time to avoid that “trap:”

“We must avoid the trap of doing more with less, which is a recipe for creating a hollow force,” General Odierno, the commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command, said…

General Odierno also said the military services “may have to do less with less,” in coming years due to leaner defense budgets and adjusted priorities.

General Odierno currently leads Joint Forces Command, which has been slated for closure.

His statements come on the heels of an Air Force survey revealing the already-increased workloads over the past few years on Airmen, whether because they deployed or because they stayed behind and had to accomplish both their own work and that of those who had deployed.  Interestingly, pilots reported the highest workloads of any Airmen:

Pilots who responded to the survey indicated they felt especially heavy workloads. Among the findings:

• Only 46 percent said they had enough people in their work group or team to accomplish the job, compared with 63 percent for the entire force.
• 63 percent said they had adequate time to do the job well, compared with 80 percent of all respondents.
• 72 percent said they had the right tools and equipment to accomplish their jobs, slightly less than 79 percent for the entire force.