Sequestration
BACKGROUND PAPER
ON
THE EFFECTS OF SEQUESTRATION ON TOTAL FORCE READINESS
1. On August 1st, 2011, the United States’ National Debt was moments away from breaching the 14.3 billion dollar debt ceiling imposed by Congress on February 12th, 2010. One day later, on August 2nd, 2011, President Barack Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011. This national-level policy mandated reductions to the United States (US) budget totaling 1.2 trillion dollars over 10 years. Of the 1.2 trillion dollars in reductions, approximately 500 billion dollars is applied to the Department of Defense (DoD). Furthermore, 85 billion dollars in DoD cuts are to take effect in fiscal year (FY) 2013 alone (Black, 2013). This background paper analyzes the effects of sequestration on the readiness levels of the United States Air Force (USAF). It will describe how Company Grade Officers (CGOs), the future leaders of the USAF, are losing developmental opportunities due to budget cuts. This will lead to a decreased state of total force readiness, ultimately degrading national security. Two Courses Of Action (COA) are proposed to offer solutions to maintain the readiness of the USAF in the wake of sequestration: 1) adopting a foreign policy of moderate-isolationism and 2) postponing costly DoD ventures in addition to funneling funding to the DoD from other government programs such as Social Security and Income Security.
2. Due to the reality of sequestration, the Air Force expects to absorb over 12.4 billion dollars in funding reductions on top of an already substantial 1.8 billion dollar shortfall in funding for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) in FY13 (Black, 2013). Compared to recent history, the budget constraints placed on the USAF are unprecedented. In his letter to Airmen on March 1st, 2013, Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh stated, “our Air Force will experience about a nine percent budget cut across all programs starting now, with no ability to adjust
ON
THE EFFECTS OF SEQUESTRATION ON TOTAL FORCE READINESS
1. On August 1st, 2011, the United States’ National Debt was moments away from breaching the 14.3 billion dollar debt ceiling imposed by Congress on February 12th, 2010. One day later, on August 2nd, 2011, President Barack Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011. This national-level policy mandated reductions to the United States (US) budget totaling 1.2 trillion dollars over 10 years. Of the 1.2 trillion dollars in reductions, approximately 500 billion dollars is applied to the Department of Defense (DoD). Furthermore, 85 billion dollars in DoD cuts are to take effect in fiscal year (FY) 2013 alone (Black, 2013). This background paper analyzes the effects of sequestration on the readiness levels of the United States Air Force (USAF). It will describe how Company Grade Officers (CGOs), the future leaders of the USAF, are losing developmental opportunities due to budget cuts. This will lead to a decreased state of total force readiness, ultimately degrading national security. Two Courses Of Action (COA) are proposed to offer solutions to maintain the readiness of the USAF in the wake of sequestration: 1) adopting a foreign policy of moderate-isolationism and 2) postponing costly DoD ventures in addition to funneling funding to the DoD from other government programs such as Social Security and Income Security.
2. Due to the reality of sequestration, the Air Force expects to absorb over 12.4 billion dollars in funding reductions on top of an already substantial 1.8 billion dollar shortfall in funding for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) in FY13 (Black, 2013). Compared to recent history, the budget constraints placed on the USAF are unprecedented. In his letter to Airmen on March 1st, 2013, Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh stated, “our Air Force will experience about a nine percent budget cut across all programs starting now, with no ability to adjust
References: Beland, Daniel. “The Great Social Security debate.” International Journal, 2008, 64(1), 115-123. http://search.proquest.com/docview/220861426/fulltext/13D4C606524E11A649/4?accou ntid=28844. Black, A. (2013). Sequestration impacts ripple across Air Force. U.S. Air Force. Retrieved from http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123339291 Hirono, Mazie United States: Isolationism revisited. (1991). Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford: Oxford Analytica Ltd Welsh, G. A., III. (2013). CSAF to Airmen: We 'll get through sequestration together. Buckley Air Force Base