Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Military update
Military leaders over the past week have sharpened warnings that force readiness is unraveling and it could plummet if Congress allows the next round of defense cuts mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), with its sequestration tool, to take effect Oct. 1.
The House and Senate budget committees, in turn, issued their own warnings amid the rising threats to U.S. interests around the world: No, they are not negotiating an end to the BCA despite how deeply both Republicans and Democrats claim to despise the debt-reduction law.
The House committee, however, says it has a fresh gimmick to spare the military BCA cuts in fiscal 2016: Let basic defense spending fall, as planned, but add billions of dollars back to an account BCA can’t touch: the Department of Defense’s Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account.
The Joint Chiefs aren’t happy with this but say national security is at stake with military force structure falling dangerously low, readiness rates still anemic from the last round of sequestration in 2013, and the services forced to rely on aging fleets of ships, submarines and aircraft.
The Obama administration didn’t propose repeal of the BCA to protect defense spending in 2016 but its defense budget assumes Congress will find a way to lift that cap. Its base defense budget of $534.3 billion is $36 billion more than the BCA permits, and it asks for $50.9 billion more to fund OCO.
The Joint Chiefs say the services desperately need that $36 billion, which, if lost to sequestration would cut the base defense budget by 7 percent.
Army, for example, already is reporting only 33 percent of brigades being combat ready versus 72 percent needed to meet national strategy requirements.
Services would take another $2 billion out of hide next year if Congress rejects administration plans to curb compensation and close bases.
So far, Congress isn’t moved to end the BCA despite its “mindless” impact on defense budgets.
Republicans still say they won’t accept any new deal on reducing the nation’s $18 trillion debt that would raise taxes or close tax loopholes. President Obama and Democrats have withdrawn earlier ideas for trimming popular entitlements.
So BCA survives, even with Republicans now holding majorities in the Senate and the House. In a bygone era, Republicans were deemed guardians of defense budgets, particularly major weapon programs. A higher priority today is the campaign pledge not to raise taxes.
Tom Philpott can be contacted at Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, Va. 20120-1111, or by e-mail at:
