"FORCE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS NECESSARY..."

FROM: U.S. AIR FORCE 
Force management programs necessary despite budget deal/ Published December 23, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Despite a congressional budget deal that lessens the impact of sequestration on the Air Force, it doesn’t go far enough to halt actions to shrink the service, senior service officials said.

Under Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning and Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, the Air Force chief of staff, said that even with some relief from sequestration, the service will still have to reduce its force structure and sacrifice modernization and readiness.

How this occurs will affect what the service will look like in 2023, when sequestration ends, they said.

The proposed budget deal making its way through Congress would mitigate some near-term readiness problems, Welsh said, and Air Force leaders will put any money Congress approves beyond sequestration into training and maintenance accounts.

The budget agreement, which was months in the making, eases spending caps for the next two fiscal years while softening the impact of across-the-board spending cuts, known as the sequester, on defense and non-defense programs.

Overall, the agreement calls for more than $20 billion in deficit reduction.

Still, Welsh said, this doesn’t change the long-term picture, noting that sequestration poses a dilemma for the Air Force. Does the service choose to keep near-term readiness high at the expense of force modernization, or vice versa?

“That’s the balance we’re trying to walk,” the general said.

One example of this conundrum is the close air support mission. The Air Force is studying proposals on how best to carry out this core mission, the general said. One proposal would eliminate the A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support aircraft -- the aircraft Welsh flew as a young pilot.

If money were no object, the A-10 would be a great platform to retain, the general said. But money is tight, he noted, and will be tighter.

“To pay our $12 billion-a-year bill toward sequestration, we have got to find savings in big chunks,” Welsh said. “That’s the problem. And that's what all these discussions are based on. It's not about a specific platform. It's about balancing the mission sets.”

The general said other aircraft -- F-16 Fighting Falcons, B-1 Lancers and B-52 Stratofortresses -- provide roughly 75 percent of the close air support in Afghanistan today.

“We have a lot of airplanes that can perform that mission and perform it well,” he said. “Those other aircraft do other things for us.”

The Air Force ultimately will replace the A-10 with the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter, Welsh said.

“That plan hasn’t changed,” he added.

Saving money also is important, he said.

“To do that, you have to start talking about fleet divestitures, because you have to get rid of the infrastructure behind the aircraft -- the logistics tail, the supply systems, the facilities that do all the logistical support and depot maintenance, et cetera,” he said. “That's where you create big savings.”

Changing force structure also will inevitably change the service, Welsh said.

“We will have to draw down people -- both the tooth and the tail that comes with that force structure,” he said.

Personnel policies will be used to shape the force, and the service is getting these policies out to Airmen now so they can make informed decisions, Welsh said.

“We’d love to get all this done with voluntary force-shaping measures over a period of time,” he said. “If we … have to take involuntary measures, I would like everyone to have at least six months of time to talk to their family (and) to think about the impact this could have on them.”

With only operations and maintenance and investment accounts remaining for quick assessment, a profound impact to readiness could ensue.

“The Air Force was already in a 20-year readiness decline, something we were just starting to address when sequestration hit,” said Fanning, adding that the service’s size and structure doesn’t lend itself to a tiered readiness model.

“When the flag goes up, the Air Force is expected to get to the crisis rapidly," he said. "Speed is a key advantage of airpower.”

The number of Air Force squadrons equals the combatant commanders’ requirements, Fanning said, but with little or no time built into plans to bring forces up to full readiness.

“If it takes months to generate combat air power, the president loses deterrence, diplomatic influence and contingency options on which the nation has come to depend,” he said.

Fanning characterized budget compromises currently in debate on Capitol Hill as encouraging, though lower than service officials would like. The additional funds over the next two years will help cover readiness shortfalls, stability and planning, he said.

“Even with this relief, we will need to resize the Air Force to one that is smaller than it is today in order to protect investments we need for the future and to shape an Air Force that we can keep ready; we can’t do these cuts individually, ad hoc, or in isolation,” Fanning said. “If something’s restored to the budget we present to the Hill, something else will need to go.”

Still, Fanning pledged a continued commitment to helping Airmen get past the “distractions” of budget and political uncertainty.

“We will make the decisions that we can, as quickly as we can, as transparently as we can … to get the Air Force back to that ‘new normal,’” he said.

(Courtesy of Air Force Public Affairs Agency Operating Location - P)

USDA REMINDS FARMERS OF AFFECTS OF SEQUESTRATION ON FARM PROGRAMS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
FSA Advises Producers to Anticipate Payment Reductions Due to Mandated Sequester 

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2013 ---USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is reminding farmers and ranchers who participate in FSA programs to plan accordingly in FY2014 for automatic spending reductions known as sequestration. The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) mandates that federal agencies implement automatic, annual reductions to discretionary and mandatory spending limits. For mandatory programs, the sequestration rate for FY2014 is 7.2%. Accordingly, FSA is implementing sequestration for the following programs:

Dairy Indemnity Payment Program; Marketing Assistance Loans; Loan Deficiency Payments; Sugar Loans; Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program; Tobacco Transition Payment Program; 2013 Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payments; 2013 Average Crop Revenue Election Program; 2011 and 2012 Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program; Storage, handling; and Economic Adjustment Assistance for Upland Cotton.

Conservation Reserve Program payments are specifically exempt by statute from sequestration, thus these payments will not be reduced.

“These sequester percentages reflect current law estimates; however with the continuing budget uncertainty, Congress still may adjust the exact percentage reduction. Today’s announcement intends to help producers plan for the impact of sequestration cuts in FY2014,” said FSA Administrator Juan M. Garcia. “At this time, FSA is required to implement the sequester reductions. Due to the expiration of the Farm Bill on September 30, FSA does not have the flexibility to cover these payment reductions in the same manner as in FY13. FSA will provide notification as early as practicable on the specific payment reductions. ”

DEFENSE OFFICIAL SAYS MORE SPENDING CUTS COMING NEXT YEAR

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Official Warns of Continued Spending Cuts in Next Fiscal Year
By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2013 - With the new fiscal year less than a month away, a senior Defense Department official delivered a warning today at a defense cooperation conference here: expect the current spending cuts triggered by sequestration to be part of the budget landscape for the foreseeable future.

Elana Broitman, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for manufacturing and industrial base policy, told an audience of defense industry and government officials -- including those from some of America's closest allies -- that there's no indication Congress is prepared to pass a new budget that would end sequestration when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

"You know the sequestration story will largely not go away in the coming fiscal year," she said in her prepared remarks, an indication of more belt tightening likely to affect defense contractors and the industrial base. "In [fiscal year 2014], we don't have a choice but to take a hard look at investments as well."

Senior leaders in the military and the office of the secretary of defense "will continue to take an unsparing look across their portfolios to uncover ways to cut or trim programs that have become bloated, no longer serve their original purpose or have become such an exquisite option they no longer fit with either fiscal or strategic realities," Broitman said.

She cautioned however, that if not carefully considered, cuts to defense-related research and development risk affecting more than just jobs and contracts within the defense establishment.

"If we get it wrong, we jeopardize lives, and the longer-term national security interests of over 300 million fellow citizens as well as the hundreds of millions more around the globe who depend upon our unique and storied institutions," she said.

Broitman warned that the Pentagon "won't have the luxury of continuing every program, or starting every new one," and said she is concerned that the continued cutbacks rippling through the defense industry could mean companies that the department relies upon, especially medium and small suppliers, won't invest in research and development, and therefore would leave the defense establishment with vulnerabilities in the supply chain.

That could be especially pernicious, she suggested, given the kinds of challenges the Pentagon is facing, not only geopolitically, but from the likelihood of continually shrinking budgets.

"We cannot afford to sleepwalk through a period of tighter fiscal belts, and wake up to a lack of new and advanced systems in a few years," Broitman said. "International security and the fiscal realities the United States faces in the years to come [are] quite different and much more difficult than many past eras." This, she added, leads to hard choices for the foreseeable future.

U.S. TRANSCOM COMMAND CHIEF SAYS SEQUESTER WILL NOT AFFECT DRAWDOWN IN AFGHANISTAN

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Chris Kusnierz watches his sectors of fire during Operation Bullseye in Kajaki in Afghanistan's Helmand province, Feb. 27, 2013. Kusnierz, a machine gunner, is assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7. Troops conducted the Afghan-led operation to clear Pay Sang village. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Kowshon Ye

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Transcom Chief: Sequester Won't Affect Afghan Drawdown
By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2013 - The chief of U.S Transportation Command told Congress today that cuts in defense spending triggered by the budget sequester should not have an impact on the withdrawal of U.S. troops and materiel from Afghanistan, but may have other "unintended" consequences.

Air Force Gen. William M. Fraser III told members of the House Armed Services Committee that bringing equipment and personnel home from Afghanistan as part of a planned drawdown over the coming months is a concern because of the impact of $46 billion in defense cuts triggered by the sequester.

However, Fraser said, "There has been direction by the department to ensure that the resources are there which should cover the retrograde that we're talking about."

Apart from the impact of sequestration, the ability to withdraw troops and equipment from landlocked Afghanistan, where the U.S.-led NATO mission is set to expire at the end of next year, has been a concern, given the history of the country's border with Pakistan, through which much of the materiel is expected to transit.

For months last year, the Pakistani government closed overland routes into Afghanistan in response to a cross-border attack by NATO forces in November 2011 that accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

During questioning, Fraser told lawmakers he concluded a visit to Pakistan last month "encouraged" about the border situation.

"We're going to continue to ramp up," he told legislators, and that "everything seems to be moving in the right direction with lots of different lanes ... and that we do have the resources."

However, Fraser was less sanguine about the impact the budget sequester will have on the military in general.

"The lack of budget certainty right now is going to have an unintended consequence on our command," he said, especially for commercial partners who contract with Transcom.

The military budget situation also raises a readiness issue, he added, by increasing "our risk in the future to respond in a very timely manner."

Based at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, Transcom oversees the Defense Department's global air, land and sea transportation and distribution enterprise, providing the military with global mobility.

SEC. OF DEFENSE HAGEL NOTES CIVILIAN PAIN CAUSED BY SEQUESTER

FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

Hagel Notes Sequester's 'Particular Pain' for Civilians

By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2013 - Defense Department civilian employees will "particularly" feel the pain sequester will bring to the entire defense workforce, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said today.

In his first Pentagon press briefing, Hagel outlined the steps the Pentagon and the services will take as the budget mechanism known as sequester, which takes effect at midnight, trims roughly half a trillion dollars from defense spending over the next 10 years.

Along with cost-cutting actions by the services to curtail training and maintenance, the department has already announced it will furlough civilian employees beginning in late April, cutting their work hours and pay by 20 percent for the rest of the fiscal year.

"Our number one concern is our people, military and civilian, the millions of men and women of this department who work very hard every day to ensure America's security," the secretary said. "I know that these budget cuts will cause pain, particularly among our civilian workforce and their families. I'm also concerned, as we all are, about the impact on readiness that these cuts will have across our force."

Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter joined Hagel for today's conference and shared his views about defense civilian workers.

"As you know, our civilian workforce is about 800,000 strong," Carter said. "Those people, too, are dedicated to the defense mission." Nearly 90 percent of DOD civilians live outside of Washington, he noted, and nearly half of them are veterans.

"So they're dedicated to the mission, too," he said. "And as the year goes on, many of them will be subject to furlough."

Civilians make important contributions to the nation's defense, Carter said. "They do real things that are really important to us. And they've had their pay frozen for years; now they're subject to furlough."

The deputy secretary said the reason civilians join the department, and the reason "I hope they'll stick with us," is because of mission.

"They're committed to what we do, which is defend the country and hope to make a better world," he said. "That's why they do it."

DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER WARNS OF CHAOS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Spending Cuts Would Cause Chaos, Carter Says
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2013 - Deep, across-the board spending cuts scheduled to take effect March 1 would cause chaos for the Defense Department, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said in a televised interview yesterday.

Carter told Judy Woodruff on "PBS Newshour" that the department will do what it can to minimize disruptions should the cuts kick in, but it can do only so much.

"We don't have a lot of flexibility, and we don't have a lot of time in that regard," Carter said.

A "sequestration" mechanism in budget law requires DOD to cut $46 billion in spending from March 1 until the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year unless Congress comes up with an alternative that would stop sequestration from triggering. This comes on top of $487 billion in defense spending reductions already programmed over 10 years, and Pentagon officials have noted that operating under continuing resolutions in the absence of a fiscal year budget complicates matters.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta notified Congress yesterday that the department is preparing to place almost all of its 800,000 civilian employees on unpaid furlough for one day a week through the rest of the fiscal year. These are not faceless bureaucrats who simply shuffle paper, Carter said.

"They repair our ships. They maintain our aircraft," Carter said. "That's who these people are, and 44 percent of them are veterans. It's a terrible thing to have to deprive them of some of their income."

If sequestration triggers, operations and maintenance -- the primary funding that ensures readiness -- will be particularly affected. The department will ensure units deploying to Afghanistan will receive the training needed to succeed. But this will rob other units readying for other missions, Carter said.

"That's just a mathematical fact of doing sequester," he added. "This is very damaging to national security."

In planning for sequestration, the Navy already has postponed sending an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf to join one already there, to ensure there will be enough ready carriers to dispatch to other critical areas if required.

"In everything we do, we're really trying to keep on protecting the country and delivering the defense under these circumstances," Carter said.