Thompson urges million-member ground force for military

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson spoke yesterday at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, S.C. (Mary Ann Chastain/Associated Press)

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CHARLESTON, S.C. - Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson called yesterday for a million-member military ground force and more funding to equip and care for service members and veterans.

Thompson said he wants a military ground force of 775,000 in the Army and 225,000 Marines, 23,000 more Marines than the Pentagon is seeking.

"Some would say this plan is too much and too big," Thompson said at The Citadel, a military college. "I don't believe that's the case, not at all."

Thompson didn't say how he would pay for the increase, but added that military spending should be set at 4.5 percent of the value of the goods and services the nation creates. His campaign said that would be the equivalent of increasing military spending by as much as $150 billion a year, but that those increases would be phased in and depend on economic growth.