FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Carter Sends Letters to Governors Most Affected by DOD Cuts
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 1, 2013 - Sequestration will have serious and real effects for people, and to hammer that point home Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter has sent warning letters to the governors of the states that will suffer most.
The letters alert the governors of sequestration's impact on military bases their states, and both the direct and indirect impacts of sequestration. The 10 states most affected are: California, Virginia, Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Alabama, and Washington.
Sequestration means the department must cut $47 billion from its fiscal year 2013 budget -- meaning $47 million by the end of September 2013. All states will be affected, but these 10 states will bear the largest brunt.
For example, roughly 26,000 Defense Department civilian employees work or reside in Pennsylvania, and they will take home $155 million less over the rest of fiscal 2013. In Virginia, maintenance on 11 Navy ships at Norfolk Naval Base is cancelled, with a associated loss of civilian contractor jobs. In California, sequestration will affect Beale, Edwards, Vandenberg and Travis air force bases.
In Maryland, the cuts will impact the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground, Andrews Air Force Base and Patuxent Naval Air Station. In Texas, operations at bases around the state will be affected and operations at Red River Army Depot could lose $1.4 billion.
"While these reductions are unfortunate and will be damaging, the department is doing everything within our power to minimize adverse effects on our national security mission," Carter wrote to all the governors.
He vowed the department will work with the states to help manage the effects of the reductions. "Should Congress take subsequent actions that change the level or the nature of these reductions, we are committed to working closely with you to manage changes quickly," Carter wrote.
