Pentagon: Funding cuts damaging readiness

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work warned returning members of Congress on Wednesday that the military would be less able to fight future wars unless they reverse half a trillion dollars in defense cuts forced on the Pentagon last year.

“It would be unconscionable to send American troops into a fight where they are not adequately trained and equipped,” Work said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

{mosads}Work said the Air Force’s fighter and bomber squadrons are suffering from a lack of high-end training, thousands of Army soldiers have never conducted combined-arms maneuver training, six of 10 Navy aircraft carriers are currently undergoing maintenance, and Marines can’t train on amphibious skills due to the shortage of available ships.

Work said while U.S. military funding falls, both China and Russia are increasing their defense spending and fielding advanced new weapons and capabilities “at a rapid pace.”

“Our technological dominance is no longer assured. The fact is we’re under-investing in new weapons, given the investments of our closest competitors,” he said.

Work also asked Congress to stop resisting cuts to defense programs they are trying to protect, mostly due to the immediate economic impact to their areas and constituents.

In particular, Work said the Air Force needed to retire the A-10 fighter jet or face a shortage of maintainers for the more advanced F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The Navy needs to take half its cruiser fleet out of service temporarily; troop pay and benefits need to be reformed, and bases need to be closed, he added.

The warning comes as Pentagon officials are planning its 2016 defense budget, which will be unveiled in March.

Lawmakers partially relieved the cuts in 2014 and 2015, but it is unclear whether they will return in full, as currently scheduled, in 2016.

Lawmakers had agreed in 2011 to cuts of $500 billion to be equally and automatically applied to each defense program budget over 10 years if they were not able to agree on tax and spending reform. The cuts were designed to be so damaging they would force lawmakers to come to an agreement, but they kicked in when Congress failed.

The cuts double already-planned spending reductions of $487 billion over 10 years.