The Pentagon, trying to free up cash in the face of a yawning U.S. deficit, unveiled a series of cost-cutting measures on Wednesday that will shed thousands of jobs and shut down an entire military command.Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the shakeup would show Congress that the Pentagon would spend tax dollars wisely during tough economic times and address long-standing concerns about wasteful expenditure.
But Gates warned in some of his strongest language yet against any future effort to actually cut overall defense spending, which is still growing, but at a much slower rate than it did in the years after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The U.S. budget gap hit a record $1.41 trillion in fiscal 2009 and is poised to grow wider this year, unnerving many Americans grappling with unemployment at a lofty 9.5 percent. Read US National debt hits record $11 trillion.
But many of the proposed cuts are also almost certain to upset members of Congress, who face the potential loss of jobs in their home districts in an election year.
Beyond U.S. fiscal constraints, Pentagon officials are also mindful that their budget will come under increased scrutiny as the United States winds down the war in Iraq. President Barack Obama has announced plans to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan starting in July 2011, conditions permitting.
Pentagon officials declined to say how much the measures would save exactly but described them as part of a previously announced effort to free up more than $100 billion to sustain U.S. forces and upgrade its arsenal over the next five years.
The cost-cutting initiatives include scaling back the number of generals across the U.S. military and slashing funds for defense department contractors by 10 percent each year for the next three years -- a potentially massive reduction involving thousands of people.
From Reuters: Pentagon to shut military command, cut jobs
If you like this informative post, then please subscribe to my full RSS Feed.