thedrifter
09-29-06, 07:47 AM
Posted on Fri, Sep. 29, 2006
U.S. MILITARY
Crisis response termed 'at risk'
BY DREW BROWN
dbrown@mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON - The war in Iraq has become such a drain on the Army and the Marines that it's seriously damaged the U.S. military's ability to respond if other crises arise, two Democratic congressmen said Thursday.
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Reps. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, warned that because funding for the military has been siphoned off to pay for the war, the Army and Marines are running dangerously short of the troops, equipment and training needed to stay combat-ready.
''This makes deployments impossible unless we are prepared to put our troops at risk,'' said Abercrombie, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. ``It also makes conducting homeland security or disaster response missions more difficult, if not unacceptable in terms of public confidence.''
They said combat readiness for the Army especially had dropped to levels not seen since the end of the Vietnam War and would continue to deteriorate for as long as U.S. forces remained in Iraq. Because most of the active-duty U.S. ground forces are committed to the war, they said, the U.S. military lacks a strategic reserve to respond to other crises.
''We don't have a combat unit that is really trained to the point where it can be deployed,'' said Murtha, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. ``We don't have a strategic reserve unless you say the Navy and Air Force are strategic reserves.''
Among the concerns Abercrombie listed:
• ''Only a handful'' of Army and Marine Corps units that aren't deployed are combat-ready.
• Most of the National Guard's best equipment has been left in Iraq.
• The Marines were forced to call back 2,500 reservists involuntarily. Many already had served in Iraq.
Among Murtha's concerns, as outlined in a 12-page report, were:
• Funding shortfalls have created backlogs at the Army's key repair depots.
• Pressure to meet recruiting goals forced the Army to increase the number of Category 4 recruits, the lowest acceptable category, from 2 percent to 4 percent of the annual goal in 2005. The Army also has allowed in more recruits with medical problems, moral issues or criminal records, an increase from 10 percent in 2001 to 15 percent in 2005. That figure could go as high as 18 percent in 2006.
Ellie
U.S. MILITARY
Crisis response termed 'at risk'
BY DREW BROWN
dbrown@mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON - The war in Iraq has become such a drain on the Army and the Marines that it's seriously damaged the U.S. military's ability to respond if other crises arise, two Democratic congressmen said Thursday.
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Reps. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, warned that because funding for the military has been siphoned off to pay for the war, the Army and Marines are running dangerously short of the troops, equipment and training needed to stay combat-ready.
''This makes deployments impossible unless we are prepared to put our troops at risk,'' said Abercrombie, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. ``It also makes conducting homeland security or disaster response missions more difficult, if not unacceptable in terms of public confidence.''
They said combat readiness for the Army especially had dropped to levels not seen since the end of the Vietnam War and would continue to deteriorate for as long as U.S. forces remained in Iraq. Because most of the active-duty U.S. ground forces are committed to the war, they said, the U.S. military lacks a strategic reserve to respond to other crises.
''We don't have a combat unit that is really trained to the point where it can be deployed,'' said Murtha, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. ``We don't have a strategic reserve unless you say the Navy and Air Force are strategic reserves.''
Among the concerns Abercrombie listed:
• ''Only a handful'' of Army and Marine Corps units that aren't deployed are combat-ready.
• Most of the National Guard's best equipment has been left in Iraq.
• The Marines were forced to call back 2,500 reservists involuntarily. Many already had served in Iraq.
Among Murtha's concerns, as outlined in a 12-page report, were:
• Funding shortfalls have created backlogs at the Army's key repair depots.
• Pressure to meet recruiting goals forced the Army to increase the number of Category 4 recruits, the lowest acceptable category, from 2 percent to 4 percent of the annual goal in 2005. The Army also has allowed in more recruits with medical problems, moral issues or criminal records, an increase from 10 percent in 2001 to 15 percent in 2005. That figure could go as high as 18 percent in 2006.
Ellie