Budget cuts starting with the Army, but will they reverberate through all the branches?

2015-10-15T11:30:54-04:00

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/10/14/army-draws-up-list-of-possible-family-programs-to-cut.html

Army Draws up List of Possible Family Programs to Cut

Army officials have developed a priority list to identify which programs can be safely downsized or cut at the base level.

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Oct 15 at 2015 11:40 AM

2015-10-15T11:40:46-04:00

This is so true.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 15 at 2015 11:51 AM

2015-10-15T11:51:23-04:00

I'm all for budget cuts within and throughout the DOD, however, this article refers to family and MWR programs. Where's the talk about the 100 million+ to multi-billion dollar R&D projects that are never going to come to fruition (for various reasons). I'm for base commanders to be smart with their budgets and managing their programs effectively and efficiently - which will allow them to decide if programs should be cut based on performance (ie: active participation, effects achieved, etc..). I suppose I should research/google to see what the upper echelon in the DOD are doing at their levels to chop some of the DOD pork - where the cuts actually make a significant impact on the overall DOD budget. Who knows though, maybe i'm wrong in my thought process.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 15 at 2015 11:55 AM

2015-10-15T11:55:38-04:00

sigh ... the politician always cut the most "painful" one to the "victims". :)

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 15 at 2015 1:17 PM

2015-10-15T13:17:07-04:00

This won't be a popular sentiment, but there is an awful lot of bloat in these programs. Consolidating some makes a lot of sense.
When I was demobilizing last year, it was incomprehensible how many programs there were for Families. Programs are good. But quantity does not equate to quality.
Having said that, these programs are peanuts compared to where defense dollars are spent. I suppose that this part of the Defense Department was ordered to conduct a review and make recommendations - and that is fine and appropriate. But if the goal is to save money, one can find much juicier low-hanging fruit than MWR and Family Programs. Many of these self-fund or draw much of their budgets from AAFES proceeds. Is that funding mechanism becoming inadequate? Are there other priorities that some would like to spend that money on?