PUBLIC LAW 106-65 —OCT. 5, 1999 113 STAT. 791 (2) The deterrence of Iraq and Iran in Southwest Asia and the deterrence of North Korea in Northeast Asia represent two such potential large-scale, cross-border theater requirements. (3) The United States has 120,000 military personnel permanently assigned to the Southwest Asia and Northeast Asia theaters. (4) The United States has an additional 70,000 military personnel assigned to non-NATO/non-Pacific threat foreign countries. (5) The United States has more than 6,000 military personnel in Bosnia-Herzegovina on indefinite assignment. (6) The United States has diverted permanently assigned resources from other theaters to support operations in the Balkans. (7) The United States provides military forces to seven active United Nations peacekeeping operations, including some missions that have continued for decades. (8) Between 1986 and 1998, the number of United States military deployments per year has nearly tripled at the same time the Department of Defense budget has been reduced in real terms by 38 percent. (9) The Army has 10 active-duty divisions today, down from 18 in 1991, while on an average day in fiscal year 1998, 28,000 United States Army soldiers were deployed to more than 70 countries for over 300 separate missions. (10) The number of fighter wings in the active component of the Air Force has gone from 22 to 13 since 1991, while 70 percent of air sorties in Operation Allied Force over the Balkans were United States-flown and the Air Force continues to enforce northern and southern no-fly zones in Iraq. In response, the Air Force has initiated a "stop loss" program to block normal retirements and separations. (11) The Navy has been reduced in size to 339 ships, its lowest level since 1938, necessitating the redeplojonent of the only overseas homeported aircraft carrier from the western Pacific to the Mediterranean to support Operation Allied Force. (12) In 1998, just 10 percent of eligible carrier naval aviators (27 out of 261) accepted continuation bonuses and remained in the service. (13) In 1998, 48 percent of Air Force pilots eligible for continuation chose to leave the service. (14) The Army could fall 6,000 below congressionally authorized strength levels by the end of 1999. (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS. —It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the readiness of United States military forces to execute the National Security Strategy of the United States referred to in subsection (a)(1) is being eroded by a combination of declining defense budgets and expanded missions; and (2) there may be missions to which the United States is contributing Armed Forces from which the United States can begin disengaging. (c) REPORT REQUIREMENT. —Not later than March 1, 2000, the President. President shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services and Deadline, the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a report prioritizing the ongoing global
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