Posted on 01/23/2013 8:38:01 AM PST by SeekAndFind
How bad will the cuts to defense spending affect the military readiness of the US? The Pentagon has begun to game out the impact of another round of steep cuts, and even fly-overs at public events will feel the slice of the axe. More importantly, Army base operations will get reduced by 30%, and military leaders are warning of a "hollow force" with a mandate that cannot possibly be met:
Bracing for the possibility of steep congressionally mandated budget cuts, senior military officials have issued directives for fiscal retrenchment that include a 30 percent cut for Army base operations this year, personnel cuts and a halt to unnecessary fighter jet swoops during special events.
The military is ordering these trims reluctantly as the Pentagon prepares for the $52 billion shortfall it says it would face this fiscal year if Congress and the White House fail to reach a deal by March 1 avoiding across-the-board cuts under the scenario known as sequestration. As the deadline looms, Pentagon officials have lashed out at Congress in unusually stern terms.
“The readiness of our Armed Forces is at a tipping point,” Gen. Martin E. Dempsey wrote to Sen. Carl Levin, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, in a Jan. 14 letter also signed by the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. “Budget conditions unfolding right now are causing this readiness crisis.”
The letter said “we are on the brink of creating a hollow force,” because under the current budget conditions and legislation, the Pentagon could be ordered to keep a number of troops it can’t adequately sustain.
According to the Post, the Air Force has already begun implementing cuts but still faces a nearly $2 billion deficit for the rest of this fiscal year. That’s one reason why we won’t be seeing fly-overs at sporting events, and the Air Force’s participation in air shows — a big recruiting environment — will stop as well. The Navy and the Air Force have both imposed a hiring freeze, and the Pentagon says that the pending sequestration could mean furloughs for its entire 800,000 civilian employees.
The sequestration followed a previous round of cuts in Defense that took $500 billion out of projected spending over the next decade already. Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has repeatedly warned that the sequestration would be “unworkable” and a “disaster.” Now it appears that the sequestration has become a reality, and the “hollow force” a real possibility.
Into this steps … Chuck Hagel. With Chuck Schumer’s blessing in hand, he’s likely to get confirmed as Panetta’s successor, and it’s become clear that Obama wants Hagel to serve as a hatchet man to reduce defense spending even further. That will not only put Obama on a collision course with Congress, but also on a collision course with the operational philosophy at Defense, which has had the mission to prepare for two hot wars at once since WWII. It’s possible to reduce defense spending significantly, but only if the US wants to retreat from its global position of security leadership and guarantor of safe trade. While that may possibly be Obama’s aim, interventions like Libya would then be off the table entirely (perhaps not a bad idea, considering that outcome), and certainly the same could be said of organizing against terrorism in Asia and Africa, and providing for the defense of Europe.
This should be an interesting confirmation hearing.
I think he’s depending on his civilian agency, the DHS, and all the rest who have spent a ton out of their exaggerated budgets on ammunition, black helicopters, drones, armored black MRAPs etc...He told us he was gonna do it in 2007/8
“Most dictators know that their first priority is to keep their armed forces happy - to avoid a coup. What the hell is Obama thinking???”
Obama isn’t a traditional despot. Obama realizes it’s probable that he’s done in 2016. I suspect he welcomes that, because he misses his choom days.
Obama sees America as the biggest source of evil in the world. If he can neuter America before he’s out in 2016, that his the transformation he wanted.
You may have hit on the exact strategy needed to preserve this country and republic. KEEP CUTTING THEN!!!
I think he should also restrict military food to cold MREs. and order cold showers as well. No consumer electronics, phoning home or mail. Make the military as mad as possible!!!
The materiel they are amassing for the DHS is not to do battle against the troops you think.....they are for the civilians. By the time Obama’s next 4 years are done, our military will be seriously depleted, both in manpower and equipment.
The United States is dangerously putting our military eggs in too few baskets.Instead of consolidating these bases with this joint see crap they need separation.
One well coordinated attack could really put us behind the eight ball.
One only need watch D’Souza’s movie on Obama to see what the Fraud in Chief has in store for America’s military. It is right in the movie and people were too blind or chose not to see what his plans entail.
I have long maintained that Obama has a Plan A and a Plan B.
Plan A -- Through horrible policies, transform America into a non-Christian, poverty-stricken, poorly educated, laughingstock of a nation with a hollow military force. This is one way to destroy America.
Plan B -- Attempt to put into place a bunch of horribles policies to destroy America. Meet resistance. Spark a Second Civil War. Have the country break into pieces, with millions of dead, and polarizing divisions that will last for a century or more. This is a different way to destroy America.
Obama doesn't need to get all his policies into place.
Obama doesn't need to be on the winning side in a Civil War.
Obama has set up a "can't lose" proposition. If we do not resist, the end result will be a destroyed America. If we do resist, the end result will be a destroyed America. The deal is done.
Jihadi martyrs are focused on only one thing -- how much damage can they do to their enemies? The man will get what he wants, no matter what happens to him.
What I DO have a problem with is the way I believe they will cut it. There is a LOT of waste in the DoD...and if done correctly...given the threats out there...we should be able to absorb this...no problem.
The people who are really going to take it on the chin are the DoD contractors. We have truly become a military industrial complex. We spend billions a year on MILCON (military construction) that is "nice to have" stuff...but certainly not a necessity. That money is basically a wealth tranfer from the tax payer...to the DoD...to the contractor and then back to the taxpayer (worker). The DoD also spends a lot of $ on TDY's that are not necessary...and on training that isn't mission related. There are so many programs and additional duties that require this or that class (and a TDY for someone to teach the class...or a TDY for someone to GO to the class).
Cut these things and most military types wouldn't flinch. They would probably be glad. However, in true bureaucratic fashion I fear they will cut in the wrong areas and keep spending money on stuff that just takes up time and really doesn't offer any mission dividends.
They also announced that military (officers and airmen) who promote in March will pin on new rank, but WILL NOT BE PAID IN THE NEW GRADE for an undefined period of time.
“Jihadi martyrs are focused on only one thing — how much damage can they do to their enemies? The man will get what he wants, no matter what happens to him.”
I agree with you about Obama’s intentions and a plan A with a plan B.
In that case, Obama is in a win/win/win position. No matter which way it goes, America is neutralized, and Obama will live out his days in wealth and comfort.
America willingly swallowed the poison pill in 2008. After becoming ill, America was offered an antidote, or a second, stronger poison pill. America chose the poison pill.
We’re doomed, it’s only a matter of how it plays out.
And lots more homosexual indoctrination! LOTS more!
OATHKEEPERS.ORG
Thank you for your post! There is no doubt that the DoD budget needs cutting, especially in the area of the civilian workforce - no more undefined pensions for them.
It wasn’t but a few years ago that snipers were having trouble finding money for bullets while a multi-billion dollar satellite program continued to be billions over budget. Same thing today: Total budget craziness.
cut the required dollars out of the civilian force and the consultants. How much do taxpayers compensate Harvard for all the whiz kids they engulf DOD with??
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