Posted on 02/08/2013 4:30:43 PM PST by EXCH54FE
The United States Army is projecting that a series of severe defense cuts could cause 251,000 Army civilians to be furloughed, lead to an Army-wide hiring freeze, and significantly reduce funding for critical social service programs that provide care to troops and their families.
The nearly $500 billion in looming defense cuts, otherwise known as sequestration, has led the Army to project widespread shortfalls that will impact troop readiness and defer post-combat equipment repairs for up to four years, according to detailed estimates issued by the Army and obtained by the Free Beacon.
Sequestration is set to kick in on March 1 if Congress fails to enact a preventative deal, which sources on Capitol Hill suggest is increasingly likely.
The Army expects to reduce funding significantly for several soldier and family programs in addition to a major scale down in combat preparation exercises.
Funding shortfalls would impact the Soldier Family Assistant Center, the Army Substance Abuse Program, the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention Program, and a soldier reintegration program meant to ease the reentry into civilian life.
Additionally, the Army, which has already begun discharging and reassigning 60,000 soldiers, projects the economic impact of such cuts could “exceed $2 billion.”
Lawmakers and military experts are sounding the alarm about these cuts, maintaining the country has an obligation to continue caring for its fighting forces.
“How do you go to somebody in the military who’s been deployed four or five times . . . and say, ‘For your good work over the last decade, we’re going to ruin the military; we’re going to make it harder for you to have the equipment you need to fight, and we’re going to reduce benefits to your family?’
(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...
“The nearly $500 billion in looming defense cuts”
They make it sound like $500B is a lot of money, when it is spread out over 10 years like these “cuts” are.
When they talk about the $500B that is the annual budget for the DoD, they make it sound like that’s not much money at all.
I’m so confused. Is $500B a lot of money or not?
those serving in harms way deserve the best we got...food, supplies, health care, etc...
but the military, like ALL govt entities, finds it can not continue good services for those actually working because the pension and health care for retirees is so totally consuming the budget....
no govt retiree anywhere should be able to collect any pension until age 60 minimally, and double and triple dippers should be indexed ...
Of corse it is with a Marxist president.
Does anyone actually think any civilian furloughed will lose any pay? Once the GOP caves they will get all their backpay. Probably looking at a delayed pay vacation.
Of corse it is with a Marxist president.
Here we go again. The RATS will blame the Republicans and the Republicans will cave like scared little Nancy boys.
Yeah, I think they will cave too. Of course, a real conservative would offer to offset the defense cuts with entitlement program cuts, but I’m not holding my breath on that one.
I don’t know about that.
I live close to Pax River NAS and they have already laid off a bunch of people,there is talk of many others leaving, and the furloughs have already been announced.
The saying is that Contractors who have contracts will do better because of the fact that the contracts have to be honored.But Government people are running scared.
No civilian has been laid off. Only contractor personnel may have been depending on their task. By law you mushave about 30 days to announce a furlough. If you’re a contractor you can be laid off anytime if the funding is not there.
“You go to war with the army you have-—not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.” Donald Rumsfield.
Here we go again. Our soldiers will have to file really sharp edges on their EBT cards.
Well the Obama administration is playing the scare card to avoid ANY cuts in government spending.
The DoD can survive on the 2008 spending levels. The people running the services need to manage their resources more carefully.
A 50B/year reduction is very doable.
They want conservatives to panic, don’t let them win. They are more scared of the cuts to non military spending that libs love.
This is a game of chicken.
Our defense contractors and military forces are on strike.
Navy: Lincoln Refueling Delayed, Will Hurt Carrier Readiness
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2986684/posts
By year’s end, troops will be unable to respond to crises, Pentagon says
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2986695/posts
“some deployments are voluntary, and people can certainly get out of the service whenever they want...its an all volunteer military....
but the military, like ALL govt entities, finds it can not continue good services for those actually working because the pension and health care for retirees is so totally consuming the budget....
no govt retiree anywhere should be able to collect any pension until age 60 minimally, and double and triple dippers should be indexed ...”
Heh! Serving 20+ years in the military is a far, far different episode than serving 20+ years as a civilian gubmint employee! I suggest you are talking out your butt!
Apparently, if we cut 10% of the defense budget, our entire military will disappear. Because I guess that 90% of the budget is overhead, and they obviously won’t cut that part.
The nearly $500 billion in looming defense cuts, otherwise known as sequestration, has led the Army to project widespread shortfalls that will impact troop readiness and defer post-combat equipment repairs for up to four years
Since tax cuts are a non-starter, what does Ubama propose?
Yeah, the generals don’t want their budgets cut any more than other bureaucrats do. There is an enormous amount of waste in the Dept. of Defense, just as there is in all of our bloated government. Just as libs always threaten to cut cops and firefighters when somebody proposes shrinking the size of government, the generals try to scare people into thinking vital defense programs will have to be cut. Baloney!
Right now we have a corrupt system where military spending is largely determined by politics and lobbyists from defense contractors rather than by what is actually useful and necessary. Lockheed Martin is ripping off taxpayers on a regular basis by selling the military crappy products that the military doesn’t even want.
Unfortunately, the system is so broken that who knows if spending will ever be directed to the right things and to the support of our troops. Government couldn’t even manage a 2-car funeral and get it right.
How much military experience do you have? While many of our brave men and women are ready and willing to deploy, "voluntary" is not generally a term that comes up.
While there are ways to get out of the military, most that entail leaving early and out of cycle, have negative repercussions. Go ahead and just walk out of your job because you disagree with something you originally agreed to as a term for employment - lost income and really lousy "references" would make it tough to get on with making a living.
The government is like any other entity when it comes to retirements - it makes contractual agreements and it can either keep them or, unlike most businesses, it can just enact something to change the rules. Civil Service employees haven't had a COLA for over two years and while there are many uninformed stories about how they are all rich, many fall into the low-middle income brackets and their earnings have dropped 36% in comparison to much of those who have jobs in the private sector over the last 4 years.
Why should a double-triple dipper be indexed? They worked the hours and fulfilled the contract - if not them, someone else would be filling the role. If you work someplace for 20 years and earn a retirement, then decide to begin a second career, would you expect the new place of employment to "index" you because you already earned a retirement? Say hello to Karl Marx for me.
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