claim: the united states is "about to have the smallest army since before wwii, the smallest navy since wwi and the smallest air force ever."
author: david perdue
evidence_1: aug 10, 2015 ... now that the us army has said it will reduce its active duty force to 450000, ...  many will complain that this will be the smallest army since the start of world war  ii. ... and the air force too has made sharp cuts in its aircraft fleet.
evidence_2: the history of the united states army began in 1775. from its formation, the  united states army ... at the outset of the american civil war, the regular u.s.  army was small and generally ... in 1917 to fight in world war i. during world war  ii, the army of the united states was formed as a successor to the national army.
evidence_3: aug 3, 2015 ... the line about the "smallest navy" has become a popular talking point ... "we're  on a course to have the smallest army since 1940, the smallest navy since 1915."  ... technology than during world war i. more importantly, the u.s. navy ... the  smallest number of ships since 1915, and the smallest air force in ...
evidence_4: may 7, 2016 ... army shrinks to smallest level since before world war ii ... during the past year  the size of the active force has been reduced by 16,548 soldiers, ...
evidence_5: sep 22, 2017 ... at the same time, our military has been disinvested for the third time in the last  forty years ... where we have the smallest army since world war ii, the smallest  navy since world war i, and the oldest and smallest air force in our history. ...  there is more pressure on dod to complete this audit than ever before.