Massive budget cuts in the US have forced the Army to cut corners on training, leaving only two brigades prepared for war. Military commanders have warned of a serious backlash if the White House continues to slash budgets.
At an annual conference for the Association of the US Army,
military leaders voiced criticism of the spending cuts that are
having a detrimental effect on the armed forces.
General Ray Odierno, the Army's chief of staff, attacked the
government for the climate of economic instability that has
forced the military to cut corners.
“And there's going to come a time when we just simply don't have
enough money to provide what I believe to be the right amount of
ground forces to [carry out]... contingency operations,”
Odierno told the media.
He stressed that because of the cuts to the military budget they
were forced to cancel six months of military training, leaving
the US Army with only two fully-trained brigades. A brigade can
contain between 3,500 and 5,000 soldiers.
With the onset of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts the US
military grew by about 570,000 personnel over the last decade. As
the Obama Administration withdraws forces from these countries,
officials are planning to scale down the military, cutting the
number of brigades from 45 to 33.
"The worst-case scenario is you ask me to deploy thousands of
soldiers somewhere and we have not properly trained them to go
because we simply don't have the dollars and money because of the
way sequestration is laid out," Odierno said, referring to
automatic budget cuts.
The next government sequester is set to take place in January of
next year and it could potentially see the Defense Department’s
budget slashed by $21 billion.
Technology vs. manpower
The Department of Defense is currently carrying out the
‘Quadrennial Defense Review’, a study that assesses Pentagon
spending. Odierno said that had been suggested that manpower
could be replaced with technology.
“There are lots of different opinions out there. There are
people that want to change how the Army fights, and they believe
we don't need ground forces, that we can do everything with
technology, stand-off weapons, missiles,” he said.
However, Army Secretary John McHugh, who also spoke at the
conference, said that the budget cutbacks had also caused big
delays in weapons and military equipment orders, including
“high priority projects for a new armored vehicle and new
communications networks.”
US finances were put under further strain by the government
shutdown that could have a knock-on effect on next year’s
military budget.
Last week the US brought an end to the three-week deadlock that
did significant damage to the economy. Moody’s Analytics estimate
that the shutdown could cost the US up to $50 billion.