Thirty one military service and veterans organizations urged Congress this week save America’s Armed Forces from the “catastrophic impact that sequestration would have on the defense budget and future national security.”
Organizations like the Military Officers Association of America, the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, the National Military Family Association, National Guard Association and Veterans of Foreign Wars to name a few, joined together to demand action to prevent sequestration. These military and veterans associations represent more than 5.5 million members plus their families and survivors. They wrote:
“The Military Coalition, a consortium of military and veterans associations representing more than 5.5 million members plus their families and survivors, urges you to ensure Congress acts to protect the Defense Department and the Nation from the catastrophic impact that sequestration would have on the defense budget and future national security.
…Sequestration would require massive force reductions of more than 200,000, leaving the smallest ground forces since 1940 and a remaining force more vulnerable to emerging threats. It likely would entail breaking compensation, health care, and other support commitments to generations of servicemembers, families, and survivors who already have spent decades sacrificing their personal interests in service to their country.
… And it would do all this while our Nation is still at war and while our economy is experiencing unemployment levels near the highest in recent memory.”
Read the full letter here.
Signers:
Air Force Association (AFA)
Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA)
Air Force Women Officers Associated (AFWOA)
AMVETS (American Veterans)
Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA)
Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS)
Association of the United States Army (AUSA)
Association of the United States Navy (AUSN)
Chief Warrant Officer and Warrant Officer Association, (CWO&WOA) of the United States Coast Guard
Commissioned Officers Association (COA) of the United States Public Health Service, Inc.
Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS)
Fleet Reserve Association (FRA)
Gold Star Wives of America (GSW)
Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America (JWV)
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
Marine Corps League (MCL)
Marine Corps Reserve Association (MCRA)
Military Chaplains Association of the United States of America (MCA)
Military Officers Association of America(MOAA)
Military Order of the Purple Heart
National Association for Uniformed Services (NAUS)
National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS)
National Military Family Association (NMFA)
Naval Enlisted Reserve Association (NERA)
Non Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA)
Reserve Enlisted Association (REA)
Reserve Officers Association (ROA)
The Retired Enlisted Association(TREA)
Society of Medical Consultants to the Armed Forces (SMCAF)
United States Army Warrant Officers Association (USAWOA)
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)