Dakota Beacon

With a little more than six months into the federal cost-cutting measure  known as "sequestration" the results are going as expected. Intentionally,  or unintentionally, the hollowing out of our armed forces advances rapidly.   Here is a recap of how we got here.
 

The sequester is a package of automatic spending cuts that was part of the Budget Control Act (BCA) passed in August 2011. Under the BCA, automatic budget cuts would take place January 1, 2013 if a bipartisan super committee (six senators and six congressmen half Democrat and half Republican) could
 not agree to a $1.2 trillion deficit reduction package by November 23, 2011. The cuts were projected to be spread evenly over a nine year period with half coming from defense spending and half coming from all other budget  areas excluding entitlements.
 

The indiscriminate cuts were intended to force legislators into making a budget deal tied to raising the debt ceiling. While Democrats were in favor of increasing the debt ceiling without strings attached, Republicans wanted substantial cuts in exchange for a higher debt ceiling.

 President Obama pressed for a debt ceiling increase of $2.1 trillion --  twice the amount of the BCA budget cuts. The super committee failed to reach a deal by November 23 and the sequester was triggered. Senator John Hoeven  (R) voted with Kent Conrad (D) to support the sequester.
 

Even before the proposed sequestration, Obama had already proposed, and congress supported, a $487 billion cut from the military over 10 years. Add to this the sequestration's $500 billion defense cut and military spending  will drop by $1 trillion over 10 years at the rate of $100 billion a year.
 

Here are a few examples of the sequestration's impact. Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno announced this June the Army would eliminate twelve Brigade Combat Teams (the pointy end of the spear so to speak) by 2017.  House Armed Services Committee Chairman Bud McKeon stated, "...much deeper cuts are still to come."
 

Less glamorous but nevertheless deadly losses occurred among the required furloughed medical personnel from places like Walter Reed National Medical Center. The Army Surgeon General stated one-fifth of the military and civilian doctors, nurses and health care workers have chosen to leave their
 jobs and work in the private sector.
 

One would think recruiting for the volunteer force might suffer. But, numbers can be deceiving. Recruiting objectives are being met but in an unlikely way. The recruiting mission is being met because there are fewer spaces to fill. When the force structure is cut the need for volunteers recedes. In addition, tougher recruiting and re-enlistment standards will reduce the force through attrition.

 Things that might deter volunteers from signing up become inconsequential.  Expect social engineering policies to further reduce the force through  attrition. Fewer volunteers will be attracted to serve under policies promoting homosexuality and "gay" marriage. Additionally, women are being integrated into infantry and armor units creating systemic problems.  Although some might deny it, military focus on sexuality and gender preference detracts from the primary mission of combat readiness.   Professing Christians may not be willing to serve under policies explicitly biased against Christianity.

 All said, officers and non-commissioned officers with ten to fifteen years experience are not easily replaced.   Current defense obligations can only be met with continuous back-to-back unit rotations of active duty, reserve and National Guard units into combat zones because the force is stretched to the breaking point. Soldiers are spending more time overseas and less time with their families. Many opt not
 to re-enlist.

 Reduced pay, medical benefits, housing, education and other benefits that aided in attracting qualified persons will no longer serve to attract. Although the "d----" word is hardly mentioned, don't be surprised if the subject of the draft is mentioned more frequently.

 Sequestration was intended to bring federal spending under control. The unintended consequence, or so it appears, was to hollow out America's armed forces drawing America down to the level of a second rate world power in a very dangerous world.

It would be hard to imagine that the Obama administration is fostering America's decline as a superpower. Even so, his administration initiated the sequestration and is doing nothing to curtail it. He does hold the view that America's Constitution must be changed because the country was unjustly
 founded for the benefit of a few well-to-do people. He believes he was elected to change America fundamentally. But, that's another story.  A "hollow force" incapable of defending America's interests is more than an idiom. It is reality.
 
 Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at P. O. Box 337, Stanley, ND 58784 or
 bnt@midstatetel.com.