National Guard is “all in” for deployments
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Parent Category: News
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Published: 17 June 2013
Source: National Guard Bureau, http://tinyurl.com/lz2hh5g
By: Sgt 1st Class Jon Soucy
June 17, 2013
The National Guard's policy on providing forces was made crystal clear in a recent memo from the National Guard Bureau chief to the Army and Air Force chiefs of staff. In short, the National Guard is fully accessible and "all in," wrote Gen. Frank J. Grass.
"We commit the Army National Guard to boots-on-the-ground deployments for one year within a three-year cycle period for unplanned contingency operations and one year within a five-year period for longer, steady-state operations," wrote Grass.
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Appropriators Take Jabs at Pentagon
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Parent Category: News
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Published: 17 June 2013
Source: CQ Weekly, subscription
By: Frank Oliveri, CQ Staff
June 17, 2013
House appropriators approved a fiscal 2014 Defense bill on June 12 after calling for new penalties and less tolerance for sexual assault in the military. The committee criticized the Pentagon in some areas, complaining it underestimated fuel costs, fumbled its space program and was continuing to buy helicopters from a Russian contractor that also supplied arms to the Syrian government. The draft bill, which the committee approved by voice vote, would provide $512.5 billion in base spending for the military and another $85.8 billion in war spending. The base amount is roughly $3.4 billion less than the administration requested for next year and $5.1 billion less than Congress appropriated for this year, though it is about $28.1 billion more than the current level after the across-the-board sequestration.
Dueling Pentagon Plans
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Parent Category: News
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Published: 17 June 2013
Source: CQ Budget Tracker, subscription
By: George Cahlink
June 17, 2013
Competing House and Senate Defense authorization bills reflect the growing gap between Republicans and Democrats on how to address future Pentagon cuts due to sequestration. The House defense policy bill — passed 315-108 on Friday — ignores the sequestration cuts expected to hit the Pentagon next year unless there’s a deficit reduction deal. Overall, the legislation would authorize $638.4 billion for discretionary and mandatory defense programs in fiscal 2014, with $85.8 billion of that designated for overseas contingency operations — $5 billion more than President Barack Obama requested for the war in Afghanistan and the general war on terrorism. With the bill, House Republicans would dramatically exceed the $498 billion defense spending cap set under sequestration, but they plan to abide by the overall $967 billion limit. Proposals from by Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen to cut $5 billion from overseas contingency operations or from Minnesota Democrat Rick Nolan to reduce the total defense authorization by $60 billion were defeated in partisan votes. Texas Republican Mac Thornberry summarized a common argument from Republicans, saying “Defense has been cut enough.” But House Armed Services ranking Democrat Adam Smith of Washington said sequestration could still wind up cutting $40 billion to $50 billion without a deal. “How would we make that work? Mindless across-the-board cuts. ... The sad truth is, that’s the likely outcome,” Smith said.
