Further Reading
Baird, Robert M., and M. Katherine Baird, eds.Ho-
mosexuality: Debating the Issues. Amherst, N.Y.: Pro-
metheus Books, 1995.
Defense Personnel Security Research and Educa-
tion Center.Lesbians and Gays in the Militar y.
Monterey, Calif.: Author, 1988-1989.
Shawyer, Lois.And the Flag Was Still There: Straight Peo-
ple, Gay People, and Sexuality in the U.S. Militar y.
New York: Harrington Park Press, 1995.
Hayes K. Galitski
See also Affirmative action; Bakker, Jim and
Tammy Faye; Conservatism in U.S. politics; Falwell,
Jerry; Homosexuality and gay rights; Moral Majority;
Murphy, Eddie; Navratilova, Martina; Reagan, Ron-
ald; Sexual harassment; Supreme Court decisions;
Swaggart, Jimmy; Weinberger, Caspar.
Military spending
Definition Financial expenditures by the U.S.
government on national defense and security
The United States vastly increased its militar y spending in
the 1980’s to challenge the Soviet Union for dominance in
the Cold War. The massive defense funding altered the stra-
tegic balance with the Soviet Union, introducing several
significant advances in weapons technology and forcing
the Soviets to spend more than they could afford in order to
compete.
An increase in defense spending during the 1980’s
symbolized America’s recommitment to the Cold
War in the 1980’s after a long period of detente fol-
lowing the Vietnam War. Inaugurated by President
Ronald Reagan and continued by President George
H. W. Bush, the increased military spending of the
1980’s reflected a new philosophy for the Cold War.
Instead of trying to achieve balance and parity with
the Soviet Union, the United States sought to reas-
sert its military and technical prowess. The increased
military spending assisted in this process by expand-
ing existing military forces, fielding new weapons
systems, and funding research for advanced weap-
ons technology.
Money and Weapons Beginning with a relatively
low budget in 1980, U.S. military spending climbed
rapidly by the mid-1980’s before tapering off in the
latter part of the decade. Starting at $303 billion ac-
tual dollars in 1980, defense spending reached a
peak of $427 billion by 1987. This new spending rep-
resented a significant portion of the gross national
product (GNP). Military spending consumed about
5.8 percent of the GNP, which was a significant per-
centage but only about half the percentage of GNP
spent on defense during the Vietnam War. The in-
creased funding of the 1980’s did not result in a
significantly larger military in terms of personnel
or facilities. In 1980, the United States employed
2,050,067 active-duty military personnel. That num-
ber increased to a peak of 2,174,217 in 1987, an in-
crease of only 6 percent.The number of military
bases around the world also increased only slightly.
Indeed, the Pentagon initiated a process of closing
or realigning unneeded military bases at the end
of the 1980’s in order to channel funding to other
projects.
The greatest expenditure of defense dollars was on
new weapons systems to replace obsolete Vietnam-
era weaponry. In most cases, the Pentagon acquired
weapons that it had developed before the 1980’s but
had previously lacked enough money to purchase in
large numbers. The Air Force, for example, pur-
chased new F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon
fighters, as well as B-1 Lancer bombers, all of which
had been in development since the mid-1970’s. The
Army acquired new Abrams tanks, Bradley infantry
fighting vehicles, and Patriot air defense missiles,
all conceived in the 1970’s. The Navy increased its
fleet with additionalNimitz-class aircraft carriers,Los
Angeles-class attack submarines, andOhio-class ballis-
tic missile submarines, first introduced in the 1970’s.
Other weapons systems that began in the 1970’s but
figured prominently in 1980’s defense spending in-
cluded the F-14 Tomcat fighter, the cruise missile,
“smart” bombs, and low-observable aircraft (better
known as “stealth” aircraft).
In addition, many older but still capable weapons
systems received upgrades to maintain their mili-
tary effectiveness. Some of the B-52 Stratofortress
bomber fleet, for example, received upgrades that
kept them in service, despite some aircraft being
older than the pilots who flew them. The Navy in par-
ticular kept elderly ships in service in order to reach
the goal of a six-hundred-ship fleet proposed by
President Reagan. Beside its new ships, the Navy
kept in service the two obsolescentMidway-class air-
craft carriers, and it even reactivated the four WorldThe Eighties in America Military spending 649