Defense experts from an array of thinks tanks today issued an open letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and lawmakers urging tough, painful and unpopular decisions to close excess bases, shrink the Pentagon's civilian workforce and cut military compensation costs. Inaction on these issues threatens "the health and long-term viability of America's volunteer military," according to the letter, signed by members of the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for American Progress, the Center for a New American Security, the Center...
