McCain wants much larger U.S. military

By Andrew Gray

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain wants the U.S. military to be much larger than current expansion plans envision, an adviser to the Arizona senator said this week.

The Bush administration has begun expanding the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to create a combined strength of around 750,000 active duty troops -- a process backed by McCain's Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

But McCain believes an Army and Marine Corps with a combined strength of up to 900,000 troops is necessary, said Randy Scheunemann, an adviser to the candidate on foreign policy and national security.

"Sen. McCain feels the proposed increases are not sufficient. They need to be more, to fully address the challenges we face in the 21st century," Scheunemann told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The U.S. Army and Marines have been severely strained by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many troops have served multiple tours in the war zones and currently spend only 12 months at home before they deploy again for another year.

As a member of the U.S. Senate's armed services committee, McCain has built a reputation for scrutinizing the costs of big weapons programs and he has pledged to pursue that approach in the White House if he wins November's election.

McCain led an investigation in 2003 that killed a $23.5 billion Air Force plan to lease and buy Boeing Co refueling planes. The probe sent two former Boeing executives to jail and led to the resignation of Boeing's chief executive and two Air Force officials.

Scheunemann said McCain wanted exhaustive reforms "in the way the Pentagon buys its weapons systems to make sure that we get the best weapons for the men and women in uniform and also get the best value for the taxpayer."