Nobody Asked Me…

These serious adverse effects occur even if Congress provides flexibility in administering budget cuts and sequestration.  Flexibility in this instance would mean that Congress approves program cuts denied in the past and allows reallocation of funding, without regard to existing budget structures or limitations on transfer authority. However, the cuts are too steep and abrupt to be mitigated by flexibility, no matter how broadly defined.  These points are well illustrated by looking at the effects of a $52 billion cut in FY 2014:

•             Sequestration in FY 2013 is severely damaging military readiness.  In FY 2014 the Depattment would seek to minimize cuts in the day-to-day operating costs most closely related to training and readiness.  Instead DoD would, for the second year in a row, impose hiring freezes and sharply reduce facilities maintenance­ sometimes leaving the Department with too few people to perform needed work or with employees working in substandard conditions.  The Department hopes to avoid a second year of furloughs of civilian persotmel, but DoD will have to consider involuntary reductions-in-force to reduce civilian personnel costs. However, these actions alone would not be sufficient.  Given a cut of $52 billion, even with flexibility in administration, training and overall readiness would at best remain constant at current low levels and, in some cases, would continue to decline.

•             The difficulty of substantially reducing military personnel funding in FY 2014 would likely require disproportionately large cuts in the Department’s investment accounts- assuming flexibility in implementing changes, cuts of 15 to 20 percent would be common.  The resulting marked slowdown in modernization  would reduce our long-term, critically important and historic technological superiority and undermine our better buying power initiatives.

•    The bottom line: with or without flexibility, administering a $52 billion cut would have severe and unacceptable effects.  In particular, if such a cut and the sequester mechanism were applied to military persotmel funding, DoD could accommodate the required reductions only by putting into place an extremely severe package of military personnel actions including halting all accessions, ending all permanent­ change-of-station moves, stopping discretionary bonuses, and freezing all promotions.

Part of the solution to the current budgetary impasse will require that Congress become a full partner in ending business-as-usual practices- in areas such as infrastructure, benefits and procurement- that would otherwise require further cuts to readiness, modernization and combat power.  We urgently need Congressional support in enacting difficult but necessary measures proposed by the President in his FY 2014 and prior budgets.  These include slowing growth in military pay raises in a matmer that still supports the all-volunteer force and raising fees for health care programs for retirees while still maintaining the generous benefits they deserve.  Other key initiatives include the retirement of some lower-priority weapons, including Navy ships and Air Force aircraft.  The Congress also needs to eliminate restrictions on the rate of the drawdown in military end strength for the Army and Marine Corps, permit the Department to end programs such as the C-27 aircraft, and enact other cost-saving proposals, such as a new BRAC round.  If Congress does not approve these proposals, even more cuts in combat power, readiness and modernization would be needed to accommodate cuts of $52 billion in FY 2014 and similar cuts in later years.

And this is the email I received that included a copy of the letter…

—– Original Message —–

From: Xxxxx

Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 01:16 PM

To: Me

Subject: Downsized!

Me,

Well, the other shoe fell this morning, after 11 years I’ve been downsized; since the company feels I’m making too much money and they don’t see business improving in the near term.  I was told they had to let “someone” go, and since I have a military retirement to quote fall back on unquote and due to my pay band I’m the sacrificial body for the department.  They stressed they will be happy to write me a great reference!  Called Xxxxx as soon as I could, she is not happy and wondering if she’s next.  Don’t know what we’re going to do now, as the loss of income is going to hurt badly and force dipping into the 401k way early if we stay here and I can’t find something.  Please let me know if you’re aware of anything out there in our field.

v/r

Xxxxxx