Army Issues Instructions to Prepare for Funding Shortfall

Army Public Affairs ^ | Nov 28, 2007 | Army Public Affairs

[El Gato]

WASHINGTON (Nov. 28, 2007) - The Army announced today that it has taken initial steps to plan for reduced operations at all Army bases while the congressional review continues on funding for operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and requirements associated with the Global War on Terror.

With no funds provided for GWOT requirements since the beginning of the fiscal year, the Army has had to use operation and maintenance dollars budgeted to organize, train, equip, and field forces, as well to sustain Soldiers and their Families, to fund war related activities.

Gen. Richard A. Cody, vice chief of staff of the Army, directed all Army commanders and agency directors in a Nov. 26 memorandum to begin planning for reduced Army-wide operations. The memo instructs Army leaders to review all operations, and to make plans to minimize OMA-funded activities not required to protect the life, health and safety of occupants of Army installations, or required to maintain assets vital to the national defense. Detailed reports of this review and planning effort by installation commanders are due back to Gen. Cody by December 4.

The Army expects to exhaust all operation and maintenance funds by Feb. 23, even after considering a request by DoD to move over $4 billion from Navy and Air Force personnel accounts and the Army's working capital fund.

Gen. Cody directed Army commanders to be prepared to: "warm base" all Army installations and commands to minimal essential levels; furlough Army Civilians after mid-February; curtail or suspend contract expenditures; and discontinue all routine operations funded by OMA dollars.

"We are only in the prudent planning phase," Gen. Cody emphasized today. "We have been told by DoD to plan for and be prepared to execute these necessary actions. It is an imperative of the senior Army leadership that our Army, especially while at war, understands the budget process, the decisions being made and any potential impacts on the total Army family."

For example, Gen. Cody noted, per current labor agreements and to provide some predictability to the civilian workforce, supervisors would have to begin notifying Army Civilians of any impending February furloughs by mid-December.

"These in extremis planning actions are absolutely necessary given the uncertain GWOT funding," Gen. Cody said. "We will do everything we can to minimize the turbulence for our Soldiers, Civilians and their Families."

[El Gato]

Well it's now official; the DemonRats in Congress are cutting the funds for the military in a time of war. It makes them at least close to traitors in my book. Even if they eventually come through with some funding, it won't be all that is needed. Also all the planning for the "shortfall" doesn't come free, and thus other things will be neglected in favor of jumping the planning hoops necessary to get ready for whatever "shortfall" actually materializes come February.

[El Gato]

supervisors would have to begin notifying Army Civilians of any impending February furloughs by mid-December.

Won't that be a nice Christmas or Hanuka present from the Democrats?

[El Gato]

Notice too that the Army will completely run out of O&M funds by February. That means that even if some WoT funding is approved latter, some O&M funds will be “lost” and other things foregone.

[Brad from Tennessee]

In 1975 the Democrat-led Congress cut off all funding and military aid to South Vietnam. The country was overrun within months by the Soviet-backed North Vietnamese Army.

Iraq: Learning the Lessons of Vietnam By Melvin Laird

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20051101faessay84604/melvin-r-laird/iraq-learning-the-lessons-of-vietnam.html?mode=print

[gov_bean_ counter]

James Webb turned up in Kuwait today. Hmmmm.

[freema]

ping

[caisson71]

I wonder what would happen if we threatened, merely threatened, not to fund Congressional paychecks, gym, gov’t transportation, air travel and all the other perks, spending the money instead on the military?

[Tai_Chung]

Would that include the US Army Corps of Engineers?

[Dogbert41]

I seem to recall when they were crying about how none of the troops had body armor.

Too bad, and it’s a shame, that the Media refuses to call the Democrats on this. In my book, the democrats and the Media combined with Hollywood have been a 5th collumn of AQ and in my book they should all be collectively HUNG at the bald spots on ground Zero.

Traitors of the worst kind. Benedict who? He was NOTHING compared to todays Leftist traitors.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We’ll be fine, El Gato. I served under *SHUDDER* ‘The Clinton Dual Presidency’ when their SINGLE goal (IMHO) was to slash and burn the military and fill it with gays. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that...Seinfeld; tongue firmly in cheek.)

I survived and had a very successful military career from 1977-1997. And I didn’t need to kill anyone and had all the body armor I needed, three hots and a cot each day, etc.

Are you military? Can’t remember. If not, you’re panicking for no reason. There will always be American military men and women behind the scenes making things work against all odds. :)

[MSF BU]

The Army will do what needs to be done. This may have the effect of disrupting a bunch of administrative actions, especially retirement and medically related ones.

[Marine_Uncle]

I watched a Pentagon CSPAN last week where the press secretary also made it clear that in March of next year the Marine Corps. would find itself in an identical situation. Army in Feb., Marines in March, with no data yet how the Navy and Airforce might be effected.
Meanwhile there are masses of ill informed democratic voters that have not a clue as how this Congress is conducting itself, or should I say not conducting any business of primary importance to this nations national security and defense initiatives. In fact here it is:
Here
Item titled: Defense Department Press Briefing, November 20, 2007.

[maine-iac7]

We, the PEOPLE, must make ourselves heard NOW loud and clear - it's an election year = they listen better.

WE need to freep every news outlet - every talk show, snail mail en masse to DC - they get nervous when actual paper letters pile up on their desks.

email this action plan to everyone on your email list and tell them to do the same = Math is an absolute - by doing this, it can multiply to the thousands overnight. give them the list of addresses and phone number to Washington - tell them to write and to call. Simple note - or postcard! Support Our Troops NOW!

The main ones to FREEP:

Harry Reid, Majority Leader

Washington Office:

528 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510-2803

Phone: (202) 224-3542

Fax: (202) 224-7327

..

Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell

Washington Office:

361A Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510-1702

Phone: (202) 224-2541

Fax: (202) 224-2499

..

Senators:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Washington Office:

235 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515-0508

Phone: (202) 225-4965

Fax: (202) 225-8259

..

Majority Leader, Steny H. Hoyer

Washington Office:

1705 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515-2005

Phone: (202) 225-4131

Fax: (202) 225-4300

..

Minority Leader

Representative John A. Boehner

Washington Office:

1011 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515-3508

Phone: (202) 225-6205

Fax: (202) 225-0704

.

********* Send a letter.card to each of these and then to your own state reps...NOW

Our troops are over there underfunded already - troops will be in even more danger and their blood on these treasonous rats hands -

but guess what?

If we don't make ourselves heard, if we don't shout out loud and clear NOW - we will be just a guilty.

Our troops put their lives on the line each and every day - we need to do this little bit to help save them - this is OUR part of the WOT...

We need also to shout at the White House and tell Pres. Bush to get out there loud and clear at these traitors and let the American people know he isn't going to stand for it.

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

..

Phone Numbers

Comments: 202-456-1111

Switchboard: 202-456-1414

FAX: 202-456-2461

TTY/TDD

Comments: 202-456-6213

E-Mail

comments@whitehouse.gov

COPY PASTE AND EMAIL TO EVERYONE - NOW - GO ON!

[maine-iac7]

BUMP

[epaul]

Yeah, the Clinton years. I also joined in 1977 and about 1978 my eyes were opened as to the difference between liberals and conservatives. We didn’t have the funds for ammunition for weapons training or even vehicle maintenance. Horrible years.

[El Gato]

Would that include the US Army Corps of Engineers?

Probably, but not for certain, they are almost independently of the "Big Army", and are mostly civilian employees. But at least some of their money had to be O&M I'd think.

But heck what do I know, I don't even know if my contract is funded from 0&M funds. Hope not, but I suspect it is, at least in part. And they haven't yet exercised the option for CY 2008.

[El Gato]

I wonder what would happen if we threatened, merely threatened, not to fund Congressional paychecks, gym, gov’t transportation, air travel and all the other perks, spending the money instead on the military?

Even if we somehow did it, it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the need. But it might have good "motivational" effect. But maybe not, they'd just take more "sponsored" junkets, and accept "gifts" of housing, food, etc from Chinese lobbyists.

[El Gato]

Are you military? Can’t remember. If not, you’re panicking for no reason. There will always be American military men and women behind the scenes making things work against all odds. :)

I was, AF, O-3. Now I'm a support contractor, working on a Army post. At some point, which we've already reached, IMHO, you have to stop trying to do "more with less" and just do less with less.

If they actually have to cut 100,000 DA civilians, along with an equal number of support contractors, and who knows how many in the Navy and Air Force, whose accounts are already being raided, it will affect maintenance, training and who knows what. Yea the war will have the highest priority, but we'll be on our way to, or will have arrived at, the "hollow force" of the Carter years, but a much smaller force. Cutting tail is all fine and good, but at some point the tail is needed to support the teeth, or they start to fall out.

You understand what "warm basing" means? It means the bases/posts/stations will essentially be shut down. Only caretaker types would be keeping things from falling apart, which without some maintenance, they would. Training would only be for the Iraq and Afghanistan missions, never mind more conventional force opponents that might come along.

What makes this particularly bad is that they can't easily shift money from R&D or procurement accounts to 0&M accounts. I can think of several R&D and/or procurement programs which could safely be put on hold or canceled, two of which I work on, but they can't transfer those funds without Congressional permission, which they are not going to get.

In a way the President set this up, by not asking for the war funding to be a part of the regular budget. As CinC, he can transfer funds within accounts, especially O&M funds, but not from one "bucket" to another.

100,000 DA civilians is almost 1/2 of all Army civilians (about 220,000 total for FY07) That's a bunch to be cutting, way too much not to seriously affect things. It's not like they can call up a bunch of reservists and guardsmen to make up the shortfall, they'd have to paid out of the same accounts.

There will always be American military men and women behind the scenes making things work against all odds. :)

Yea but they won't be doing it for free. A much smaller fraction of the tasks are done by military personnel now than anytime I can think of. Even as a contractor, although in my heart I'm still military, I'm appalled at how much is done by contractors. Up until about 3 years ago, I was a "supplier" type contractor, R&D type, not direct support type. I've been sheltered. Jobs that would have been blue suiters (or green suiters in the Army) in my day, were first converted to DAF/DA civilians and then as those slots were cut, to contractors. And I know enough about how things work in the military bureacracy, civilian side, to know that they won't be furloughing high level types, instead they will let the folks low on the totem pole go.

This would be sort of like cutting your own supply lines, bombing our own depots and other support facilities during WW-II.

[El Gato]

Defense Department Press Briefing, November 20, 2007.

Briefing makes it clear, except to one Bimbo reporterette, that we are *already* using money from the regular O&M accounts to fund the war against the Islamofascists. It's just that we can rob Peter to pay Paul for a limited period of time. After that, Peter has no more money to rob, and the remaining O&M money will almost all go to funding the war.

"The Army is right now depleteing it's O&M accounts to fund the war". The only other money they can tap is the Air Forces personnel accounts, which of course will accelerate the Air Force's entry into the same depleted state that the Army will achieve in February and the Marines in March.

[El Gato]

Even I misunderstood, when the 0&M Money runs out in February, there will be no money to fund the war. I thought they’d figured how much they needed and cutting the 200,000 in February would free up enough of what was left to continue to fund the war, but apparently there would enough be enough to keep the bases/posts in “caretaker” status.