Washington Update
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
------ ·-- -- -----, WASHINGTON UPDATE A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Vol. 10 No. 3 Published by the AUSA Institute of Land Warfare March 1998 Congress looks at "emergency allowance" for Army vulnerable if Congress does not act Bosnia. While the chairman of a key Senate committee swiftly on two emergency requests. The Army, pledges "Bosnia must come from sources other than the which provides the bulk of the U.S. forces in Bosnia, is defense budget," the administration's proposal to pay for particularly vulnerable if Congress does not act swiftlyon continuing operations in the Balkans by a special "emer the two requests for Bosnia operationsand keeps them gency allowance" is being greeted warily on Capitol Hill. out of the defense budget. If that does not happen, theArmy would have to shiftmoney from its operations and mainte Those were the words ofSen. StromThurmond, chairman nance accounts to pay for past and current operations in the of the SenateArmed Services Committee, as the panel took Balkans.Those accounts pay for training. When training has up the Defense Department's $251 billion budget request been curtailed, unit readiness has been affected. recently. Defense officialssaid readiness problems could begin show The price tag for Bosnia in Fiscal Year 1999 is estimated to ingupasearlyasMayand definitelyinJuly. They already be$2 billion. Exact figures will be determined by the size and concede "anecdotal evidence" of parts shortages, cannibal nature of the U.S. commitment. The United States now izing equipment and combat trainingshortfalls . provides 7, 000 soldiers to the Stabilization Force. Defense Secretary William Cohen said, "If we don't getthe At the same time as the "emergency allowance" goes to supplemental for '98 and '99, we would be in trouble-... Capitol Hill inMarch, Congress will be sent a bill ranging if we go later thanMarch or April, the services would have from$600 million to$1.3 billion for Bosnia operations inFY to cut back on their readiness." Other defense officialssaid, 1998. This request for a supplemental appropriation will "ifwedon'tgetthesupplementals, we'relookingatabill of also beclassified as an "emergency allowance." That desig $3.5 billion. That means cutting back on modernization, nation means, in the words of a key congressional staffer, operating tempo, everythingthat is critical to readiness now Congress and the Defense Department, "won't have to and building for the future." reach back in and pull dollars out of programs." The House Appropriations Committee has pushed the emergency des Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., asked how quickly the Army ignation in the past and likely would support the move. needed congressional approval of a supplemental appro priation to cover operations in Bosnia after June30 and also But congressional opposition to the continuing mission to for next year before that affected readiness. Bosnia is both broad and bipartisan. Congress is looking for an exit strategy; and in the past, it has set deadlines for Gen. Dennis J. Reimer,Army chief of staff, said the Army leaving. Critical to that exit strategyis the development of a needed assurance by early April or commanders would have professional police force. A more heavily armed interna to begincutting back training. "We'd run out of money in tional police force to assist civilian authoritiesare expected July and August," he said. to be part of the new NATO commitment to Bosnia peacekeeping. "For Fiscal Year 1999 our Bosnia costs could be $100 million a month, about what we spend on operations. We If Congress does not go along with the emergency designa can't handle that" without the extra money, Robert M. tion, every dollar spent on Bosnia will have to come froma Walker, acting secretary of the Army, said. Adding, it was defense program. This offset is key to the balanced budget critical that thesupplemental not be offsetwithmoney from agreement that Congress and the administrationmade last existingArmyprograms and that the request for Fiscal Year year. 1999 be considered an "emergency allowance." Hill skeptical about new round of closures. Predictable deployments planned for Bosnia. The Defense Department's request for two more rounds of The Army expects to "shiftthe load fromEurope to the rest base closures, starting in 2001, is being greeted icily in both of the Army" as the U.S. presence in Bosnia continues past the House and Senate. Nevertheless, Defense Secretary June 30. Gen. Dennis J. Reimer, chief of staff, said he William Cohen continues to press the argument that shed wantedto"mak:eitmorepredictable"forsoldiersdeploying ding excess infrastructurewill provide the money needed to to the Balkans. He expected deployments to last between modernizethe armed forces in the 21st century. four to six months when the changes are made. "BRACisafour-letter wordthatis not appreciated,"hetold When asked at a recent Senate hearing about the size ofthe the Senate Armed Services Committee Feb. 3. Adding, futureU.S. commitmentto Bosnia, Reimer said, "I knowof "Something has to give and it has to be overhead." no plans to increase the size of the force. All or planning is status quo or lower." The United States has about 7,000 As he didinannouncingthe budget, Cohen told the commit soldiers in Bosnia as part ofthe NATO Stabilization Force. tee that a preliminary DoD inspector general's reportfound the cost of base closings was running 18 percent less than Robert M. Walker, acting secretary of the Army, said estimated and the savings were running 23 percent higher. despite the high operating tempo of soldiers deployed to Bosnia "we have thehighestretention rates in those units." Those numbers are disputed in Congress. Sen. Robert Smith,R-N.H., remindedCohen, "There's very1ittlesup Army moves to "heal the rift" among com port in the Congress for another round of base closings." ponents. Thesenior leadership oftheArmyexplained Last year, in the recommendations of the Quadrennial the steps it was taking to "heal the rift" betweenthe Army Defense Review, the Congress refused to approve new National Guard and the active component during a recent rounds of base closings. The review was the department's Senate hearing. internaltop-to-bottom examination of future defense needs. Among the steps were having Guard and Army Reserve Smith and others complained that the process had become presence at the meetings of the Army Resources Board, air too politicized, particularly concerning the futureof two asking for increased fundsto build the reserve components logistics centers in Texas and California. capabilities in"homeland defense" and deploying together on missions such as Bosnia. Cohen said, "If you have a complaint fromthe past, write it into thelaw ... Weare countingonthe savings." Gen. Dennis J. Reimer, chief of staff, said, "About one quarter of our force in Bosnia consists of soldiers fromthe Recruit quality remains high. While acknowledging ArmyNational Guard and theUnited States Army Reserve, that recruiting is increasingly competitive - "even while other soldiers from the reserve components have McDonald's offersmoney for college,"thesenior leadership deployed to Europe to 'backfill'active duty soldiers serving of the Army told the Senate the service is meeting quality in the Stabilization Force." standards. WASHINGTON UPDATE is published monthly by Gen. Dennis 1. Reimer, chief of staff,compared recruiting the AUSA Institute of Land Warfare to highlight statistics from198 7 to last year. There were more recruits current events of significance to the Army and last year scoring in the upper half of the mental apptitude test defense from the Washington perspective. Further "I and fewer scoring in the lowest category. totally disagree reproduction and distribution of this newsletter is on the notion that quality is declining. encouraged. TestifyingFeb. 10, RobertM. Walker, acting secretaryof John Grady - Editor the Army, said, 90percentoftheArmy's recruitswerehigh 2425 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201 703-841-4300, 213 school graduates and all had either a diploma or general Phone: Ext. 703-841-3505 equivalency. FAX: WASHINGTON UPDATE 2 March 1998 Army is prepared to make tough decisions. TRADOC looks deeply into the future. As it moves toward the information age, the Army's goal The commanding general of the U.S.Army Training and to digitize a division by the year2000, a corps by2004 and DoctrineCommand (TRADOC) told over 600 industryand the service by 20 10 will become reality if industry and the Army1eaders atanAUSA symposium, "Wemustgodeeply service "are prepared to make the tough decisions to make into the future." the process work," said Gen. Dennis J. Reimer, Army chief of staff. That future,according to Gen. William W. Hartzog,is Force XXI-the dawnofthedigitalage,anewfrontierfortheU.S. The evolution from the ArmyofExcellence of the mid 1980s Army. to the 21st century Army XXI to the emerging vision of the ArmyAfter Next-the service in20 10 and beyond, was the HartzogspeakingatanAUSAsymposium, whichwasheld subject ofthe Association ofthe U.S. Army's symposium Feb.16-18 in cooperation with his command, said, and expositionFeb. 16-18 in Orlando, Fla. The symposium "Today's battlefield hasbeen expanded ... battle space will was held in conjunction with the U.S. Army Training and be larger and we will have a smaller force." Doctrine Command (TRADOC). As the Army makes the transition into the information age, Both Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., AUSA presi theArmy"musthavethementalandphysicalagilitytoensure dent, and Gen. William W. Hartzog, TRADOC com that we can meet and conquer the challenges of the future," mander, agreed that the process, known as Force XXI, is Hartzog said at the Orlando,Fla., gathering. not new. It began more than five years ago when Sullivan was Army chief of staff. The foundation ofForce XXI are the six imperatives intro duced by a former Armychiefofstaff, Gen. Carl E.Vuono. "Thisjust didn't start," Hartzog said,"we have been working They are: quality people, training, force mix, doctrine, with industry for several years on this process and we have modem equipment and leader development.