WASHINGTON — Budget cuts have caused the military to scale down to “bare bones” levels in some cases, but it still remains the strongest in the world, according to its leaders.
On Thursday, the vice chiefs from the Army, Navy, Air Force and the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps met with Congress to present the state of their forces’ readiness.
“The current fiscal environment requires the Air Force to make choices that place readiness into direct competition with modernization,” Gen. Larry O. Spencer, vice chief of staff of the Air Force, said during a hearing of the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness.
Coming off of 2013 sequestration cuts, the armed forces must find a balance between maintaining a superior military and surviving on a budget smaller than what was granted in the earlier part of the decade.
The military was allocated $581.2 billion this year, which included $121.7 billion for the Army, $147.3 billion for the Navy and $134.7 billion for the Air Force, according to the Department of Defense.
The Department of Defense has requested $575 billion for 2015.
“If we maintain funding at this level, we can continue a gradual path of readiness recovery while preserving our future readiness,” Spencer said.
One of the concerns was that, lacking adequate funding, the military would no longer be able to recruit or retain “the best and brightest our nation has to offer.”
“I worry about being able to maintain the best talent as we go forward,” said Gen. John F. Campbell, vice chief of staff of the Army. If they know that we’re not going to be able to take care of them, if they know we’re not going to have the money to provide them the best training, the moms and dads won’t have their children come to the service.”
Currently less than half of one percent of Americans is serving in the military. In February, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced plans to reduce the Army from about 520,000 to as low 440,000 soldiers.