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Budget uncertainty complicates readiness
recovery, Dempsey says
by Jim Garamone “When the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan '2'SKRWR'0\OHV&XOOHQ
'2'1HZV'HIHQVH0HGLD$FWLYLW\ were beginning to wind down, the Joint
Chiefs of Staff all said that it would take 86$UP\*HQ0DUWLQ('HPSVH\FKDLUPDQRIWKH-RLQW&KLHIVRI6WDIIVSHDNV
WASHINGTON, September 23, several years to recover from the tempo with U.S. soldiers at the Estonian 1st Brigade Headquarters in Tapa, Estonia,
2015 — A central aspect of Army Gen. of the previous 10 years, and in particu- Sept. 15, 2015.
Martin E. Dempsey’s term as chairman lar that we needed to recover some lost
of the Joint Chief of Staff has been bud- skills.” the pace of operations grew. “We had Particular parts of the force, he said,
get uncertainty. a period of prolonged commitments,” have been taxed: Patriot batteries, Ma-
Because of the wars in Iraq and Af- Dempsey said. “Those commitments rine aviation, remotely piloted aircraft.
Dempsey took office soon after the ghanistan, the U.S. military had become have both taxed the force in terms of “The list goes on and on,” the chairman
passage of the Budget Control Act of the most skilled force in the world on [operational] tempo.” said. “Those men and women have
2011. The act was specifically designed counterinsurgency and counterterror- been operating at an even higher opera-
to be so onerous that it would force Con- ism. But these skills came at a price: While readiness has improved from
gress to act together rather than trigger high-end capabilities to deter peer com- where it was, “it’s not where it needs to See BUDGET page 12
the gun called sequestration. petitors suffered, the chairman said. De- be,” the general said.
cisive maneuver -- the integration of air
That didn’t happen. In 2013, seques- and ground affects -- was one example
tration happened. That first year, DOD of a skill that had atrophied. In the air,
civilian employees were furloughed, the Air Force needed to recover the abil-
military units found themselves without ity to dominate in air-to-air combat.
training money, squadrons were ground-
ed and ships were tied to piers rather Readiness Suffered Under Budget
than sailing. Control Act
While Congress provided relief in Because of the Budget Control Act,
2014 and 2015, the Budget Control Act readiness money was diverted to other
remains the law of the land and could needs, the chairman said.
still be triggered.
Readiness – that combination of
“It’s been challenging,” the chair- personnel, training and equipment that
man said during a recent interview. produces capability -- suffered even as
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