Four of the nation’s top military officials outlined the potential risks to troops and missions under sequestration during testimony to lawmakers this week, the Military Times reported Wednesday.Andrew Tilghman writes the chiefs of staff of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps agreed the mandatory cuts will affect U.S. security commitments to the homeland and elsewhere.
Gen. Ray Odierno, Army chief of staff, said the cutbacks, cancelled training drills and drawdowns will result in the branch having no more than 420,000 active-duty soldiers in the next 10 years.
This includes 85 percent of Army brigade combat teams that may not be battle-ready by next year, Odierno told House lawmakers at an Armed Services Committee hearing.
Marine Commandant Gen. Jim Amos testified that the Marine Corps will not be able to have its planned 182,000-strong force, adding it could have 174,000 uniformed personnel with minimally acceptable risks.
Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Navy chief of staff, said the Navy will have to reduce 30 ships from the current fleet 285.
He added that maintaining the current number of aircraft carrier strike groups for overseas deployment and plans to replace the Ohio-class ballistic submarines could be beyond the fleet’s means, according to the report.
The Air Force faces cancelling entire aircraft platforms if it needs to see any significant savings, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told lawmakers.
Welsh said this could mean reducing 4 percent of the workforce and cutting 550 aircraft squadrons, favoring versatility to do a variety of jobs over planes limited to special missions.
