You try living on a measly $160 billion a year. The Army can’t, apparently. Despite a truly massive annual budget, beefed up by “supplemental” checks to pay for the war, “the Army still will come up $1.6 billion short in its operation and maintenance accounts by the end of September,” Inside Defense reports.
Lt. Gen. Jerry Sinn… traced the problem to two different sources: first, an $800 million reprogramming action used to purchase communications and electronics equipment, and second, another $800 million used to bolster the service’s recruiting and retention efforts that have flagged since the beginning of the year.
In order to dig itself out of the $1.6 billion hole, the service will look to Congress, or wait to use money in the first weeks of the next fiscal year…
“You would think that with that incredible amount of money, that in the waning days of this [fiscal year], wed be in great shape. The answer is we are not,” Sinn said.
But what’s the incentive for financial discipline, if you can always ask — and receive — more cash from the Hill?
$160B Still Puts Army in Red
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Diversion of funding from critical areas to ‘nice to haves’ followed by passing around the begging bowl again due to ‘critical shortfalls’ is a game that should get some flag rankers fired. It’s downright dishonest and the appropriations committees play right along with it.
I was never drafted. But this devise would aleavate that cost of recriuting and retention. I stronghly support the National Draft Board System which served this nation well during WWll
and the Korean War. After all its our country at stake here. Those who will run to other counties to avoid the draft should be rounded up by that country’s police and sent back to this country to be tried for teasion desertion or some other appropiate charge…
Yo brac, you explain yourself pretty good with the “i was never drafted”
How can you talk about something you dont even know? draft isnt a joke man, its pretty hard that your govnt chosse to send you to a war thats just an economic essay.
If we were in WWII with the nazis tryin to conquer the world ill agree to go, but korea, vietnam, dessert storm and iraq are no more that false conflicts triggered by oil lobbists and weapons corporations to make a positive fiscal year.
The issue is that the Army is p155 poor and allways will be. Next time someone starts in on how much money the Army needs compare it to the Navy or Air Force. Then compair the general living condition of the people who work in those branches I think you will see the difference, Army being in last place. Whats even worse is National Guard and Reserves thier equipment is even more out dated than the rest of the Army.
The Army needs to grow just like any other Branch but you also have to maintain and replace worn, dated, and destroyed equipment. So the bill is going to get bigger every year you have the majority of the forces deployed.