Joint Chiefs Paint Somber Picture of Sequestration

Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff bitterly criticised the massive cuts the military will sustain in just a few weeks' time,should Congress fail to halt implementation of sequestration,or arbitrary huge budget cuts,on March 1.Appearing before the Senate Armed Forces Committee,the senior officers painted a bleak picture of a hollowed-out force and a grave threat to national security that Congressional inaction is already imposing on the armed forces and the nation.
Admiral Mark Ferguson,Vice Chief of Naval Operations,said the across the board budget cuts will immediately erode the readiness of the force.We will be compelled to lower our force levels.Our sailors and their families are exhibiting increased anxiety over this.We will make every effort to sustain sailor and family support programs.
On February 15,we will notify private shipyards to defer maintenance.Three carriers are already tied up and delayed.We effectively shut down four air wings on March 1.Our pilots will lose certification.Then it will take 6-9 months to retrain them,at greater cost.
General James Amos,Commandant of the US Marine Corps,feels sequestration will have a devastating impact on readiness.Short term and long term,the effect of disruption to global order will have significant economic consequences for the American people.The devastating impacts on the Marine Corps will include ships being stuck in port;aircraft grounded;units only partially trained;modernisation programs cancelled.
The long term results will put us at an unsustainable tipping point.
Its impact is already being felt.Sequestration does not hurt things;it hurts people.Inadequate training;degraded equipment;reduced survivability-even our wounded warriors will be increasingly placed at risk.
It's a dramatic resourcing cliff that will threaten the foundation of the all-volunteer force.These are all risks that demand our immediate attention.
Senator John McCain said the signal we are sending to the Iranians is don't worry;this aircraft carrier isn't coming.We are in the most unstable period since the end of the Cold War.
It's disgraceful to treat the men and women of our armed forces this way.We owe them a certain amount of certainty.This can have a long term effect on retention.
General Martin Dempsey,US Army,Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,noted that,on a scale of 1-10,it's a 10 danger to our country.It's the steepest,biggest reduction to the Defense Department in history.

Admiral Mullen To Stay

Admiral Michael Mullen will remain in his post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for at least the first year of the new presidency.The admiral will lead the effort to brief the incoming officials on global hotspots and the options for dealing with them.Admiral Mullen will utilize two charts.One of them shows historical challenges incoming presidents have faced,such as the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961 and the 9-11 attacks.The other chart is classified and depicts current threats.The Joint Staff transition team supporting the admiral is headed by Marine Corps Brigadier General Kenneth F. McKenzie,Jr..Admiral Mullen sees presidential transitions as periods of alarming risk.He is doing his best to smooth out the international situation.Last week,he held talks with his Russian counterpart,General Nikolai Makarov.They discussed the future of NATO and missile defense in Europe in a businesslike way.

NATO Strikes Taliban Militants

On 20 July in Helmand Province,Afghanistan,NATO troops killed an important Taliban commander,Mullah Sheikh,and two of his followers,near Musa Qala.On the same day,NATO airstrikes killed about 20 Taliban militants in Khost Province.Admiral Michael Mullen,Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,analyzed the situation along the Pakistani frontier with Afghanistan.He sees a joining,a syndication of various terrorist groups,both within Pakistan,and in the ability to flow troops across that porous border.This intensifies the threat.As for an arbitrary timetable for withdrawing from Iraq,Admiral Mullen said the consequences of that could be very dangerous.Conditions on the ground are an extremely important consideration,the Chairman noted.