I have no knowledge of the Coast Guard.
But I have seen DoD waste staggering amounts of money. Certainly, if a budget cuts comes through, the idiots who allocate funds might decide to cut all of the important stuff and really cripple all the missions. That seems like the thing they might do.
But, on the other hand, it may be the case that 12% of their budget is currently spent on excessive amounts of parsley in the officers’ mess. They COULD cut that sort of thing and really not feel any pain.
The question is: will they be smart?
Private industry has to be smart. We need to teach the government to be smart like industry.
That’s always the problem. They will cut things that are actually important instead of the 10,000 official coast guard screw driver budget just to make a point.
You can cut at least 10% from positions not yet filed.