I remember coming back from the first Gulf war and the Army was already cutting back because the liberals were looking for their "peace dividend" so they could focus on funding all the social and vote buying schemes that they could. The Army cut almost half of their strength in 3 years. My
regiment was decimated by the cuts. Years of experience was dumped in the name of headcount. The Army had problem going into bosnia in the late 90's because of the level of experience that was lost. I see the same thing happening again.
Odierno: Sequestration could lead to hollow Army
May 17, 2012
By C. Todd Lopez
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 17, 2012) -- It's possible
the Army could be cut to 400,000 if the sequestration option spelled out
in the Budget Control Act of 2011 goes into effect, the Army's chief of
staff said this morning.
The Army is already planning on cutting 80,000 active-duty
Soldiers from the force over the next five years, which will bring the
active end strength down to 490,000 Soldiers. Were sequestration to kick
in, Army leaders expect the cuts it brings could mean the loss of an
additional 100,000 Soldiers. Those Soldiers would come from both the
active and reserve components.
"If we have sequestration, it will affect both the active and
reserve component," said Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Raymond T.
Odierno. "It depends on what balance we pick. But what I talk about a
lot is: 70,000 out of the active, 30,000 out of the reserve; 80,000 out
of the active, 20,000 out of the reserve. Some number around there is
what we would expect."
With that, he said, he expects the active component of the Army
could be reduced to anywhere between 400,000 to 425,000 Soldiers. The
National Guard might lose an additional 20,000 Soldiers, and the Army
Reserve might lose an additional 10,000.
"It would be quite significant," the general said, speaking May
17 on Capitol Hill, before an audience at a Senate Caucus breakfast.
"If we have sequestration, the problem we have is with this
balance between end strength, readiness and modernization," he said. "I
think it's going to be really hard for us to create this right balance
we need, and secondly I think it's going to impact not only end
strength, (but) it'll impact our ability to train and be ready. And it
will significantly impact our modernization programs. It's a template
for hollowing out the force."
As part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, lawmakers who were
part of a "super committee" last year were tasked with finding $1.2
trillion in savings, or risk across-the-board reductions in funding.
Because a resolution was not reached, as much as half that amount could
now automatically be cut from the Department of Defense through
sequestration.
"The thing about sequestration that is also bothersome, even
though the amount of cuts are in my mind unreasonable, it's the fact
that we don't have any choice on where those cuts are directed," Odierno
said. "It's a percentage cut out of every line item that we have. And
so it would completely have significant impact on our modernization
programs."
RESET AND READINESS
The Army's chief of staff also told lawmakers that "reset" is
going well. Reset is the process the Army uses for the recovery of
personnel, units and equipment from the war that was fought in Iraq, and
the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.
Odierno said equipment that has come back to the United States
and has been reset is now being provided to Soldiers back home for
training purposes. The availability of that equipment for Soldier
training helps those Soldiers and their units increase their readiness
level for the next conflicts.
"We now have some (mine resistant ambush protected vehicles) we
can train on," Odierno said. "One of the real issues was we weren't
having a lot of our counter-improvised explosive device equipment, we
didn't have enough, to do training on. So the first time they'd see it
was when they got into theater."
But Odierno told lawmakers that there is an "incredible amount"
of equipment still in Afghanistan. And until that equipment is back in
the United States and made available to Soldiers for training purposes,
those Soldiers and their units will face readiness issues.
"When you don't have the equipment, it's more difficult to train, so it is going to take several years to do this," he said.
The general told lawmakers that the Army is going to retool the
Army force generation process it used to provide fighting forces to
Iraq and Afghanistan to keep forces back in the United States at the
appropriate level of readiness for potential future conflicts.
"We are going to modify (ARFORGEN) in such a way that will
enable us ... to make sure that we have units at (a) significant high
level of readiness -- getting ready to have a high level," he said.
The highest level of readiness, C-1, is for units that are
fully equipped and trained to go to a conflict, and who know where they
are going and are prepared for deployment to that particular area. The
lowest level of readiness, C-5, is for units that are completely
unprepared for deployment.
"Some units will be at a C-3 level of readiness," Odierno said.
"We are going to direct that to ensure we have ready forces, even as we
go through this transition period. Our goal is to get as many into that
'ready category' as possible."
Still, Odierno said there will be some units at a very low level of readiness until equipment comes back from Afghanistan.
SUICIDES AND SEXUAL ASSAULT
Also on the mind of the Army's senior officer is dealing with
suicides in the force, and with sexual assault and sexual harassment.
"We are all in on sexual harassment and sexual assault,"
Odierno said. "We have a lot of work to do. It is a culture. We have to
change the culture in our Army. We get people from all over our country.
And we are going to bring them into our Army and talk to them about the
Army culture -- the Army culture of values and ethics, the Army culture
of Soldiers taking care of Soldiers ... we will not allow this type of
behavior to permeate our profession."
The number of suicides in the army is up this year, Odierno
said, and will perhaps exceed the number of suicides that occurred in
any other year. The source of the suicide problem, Odierno told
lawmakers, is difficult for the Army to pin down.
"I can't tell you why that is happening and that is what's vexing to me," he said. "There are no trends."
The solution, to the suicide problem, he said, might be clearer.
"I do know it's about intervention, it's about Soldiers knowing
Soliders, it's about leaders understanding Soldier issues," he said.
"We are going to continue to work this problem as hard as we can."
