Nov 20, 2013
Defense Drumbeat
| Waging War on a Shoestring By Thom Shanker Read The Full Story Here SIMI VALLEY, Ca. – The four-star commander of all Air Force combat jets earned an audible gasp from the audience of national security specialists with his disclosure about American vulnerabilities brought on by the spending stalemate back in Washington. Over the summer, the Air Force grounded its combat squadrons as Congress and the White House argued over the budget, and money ran out for flying hours… Things got so bad that on one particular day, July 17, the entire Air Force had only eight warplanes ready and available beyond those already committed to critical missions. Had there been an unexpected crisis at home or anywhere else around the world, that’s all – eight jets – that could have been scrambled in emergency response… The nation “dodged a bullet,” Gen. Gilmary Michael Hostage III, the Air Combat Command commander, said. That theme of self-inflicted wounds to military readiness animated a conference on security challenges this weekend at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library here. … [T]he lack of a federal budget has hamstrung the Defense Department’s ability to carry out missions across the world. That fact, combined with the wide array of threats posed by adversary nations and terrorists have created a national security challenge “as complex as any ever facing the nation,” said Eric S. Edelman, a former Pentagon under secretary for policy. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel offered a direct appeal to lift sequestration, just one month before the next deadline for budget negotiators. The Army, Mr. Hagel said, has just two of its 43 active-brigades ready and available for major combat operations. The Navy’s global presence is down 10 percent. And Marine Corps units, other than those preparing for duty in Afghanistan, are getting 30 percent less funding. … On the question of reduced readiness, General Dempsey said the military would respond to any challenge and march off to any order from the president. “The ‘Fight Tonight’ forces will remain ready,” he said. “But we’ll have less depth.” The loss of depth in the combat ranks means that any conflict fought under current budget constraints would be longer and riskier – and would entail more casualties, General Dempsey warned. And he rejected those who predict the nation will not face off against a major adversary in the foreseeable future, saying that the United States has, throughout history, never accurately predicted the next war. … The military may be forced by budget cuts to “do less,” General Dempsey said. “But we can’t do it less well.” He said the nation owed its troops sufficient money to remain an overwhelming effective fighting force to outgun any adversary. “We must never accept a fair fight,” he said. The sequester cuts, he said, are forcing the Pentagon to “accrue greater risk and consume readiness” at the exact time the military needs to be rekindling a broad array of combat skills after a decade focused solely on the counterinsurgency wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. … Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who serves on the Armed Services Committee, said a downward budget had done more than injure the military’s “premium on readiness.” He said it had increased a requirement to define America’s role in the world. “Do we want to be able to shape the environment, or do we want to be prepared to react to it?” asked Mr. Reed, a West Point graduate who served in the Army Rangers. “Can we afford to shape the world – or can we afford not to?” |
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113th Congress