CNO warns budget cuts will hurt morale, readiness

Navy Times — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 09:44:18 -0500

From: Navy Times

The Navy's top officer cautioned legislators Wednesday about falling retention among the Navy's most skilled and highly trained sailors, and he pointed the finger at budget cuts that are again looming.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert told the Senate Armed Services Committee that across-the-board sequestration cuts in 2013 had started to eat away at historic highs in retention, and urged Congress to act to avert the cuts set to again take effect in October.

"We are already seeing disconcerting trends in our retention, particularly our strike fighter pilots, our nuclear trained officers, our SEALs, cyber warriors, and some of our highly trained, highly skilled sailors in information technology, AEGIS radar and nuclear fields," Greenert said during the closely watched testimony.

The numbers are reminiscent of previous eras, like the mid-1970s when the force was stricken by manpower shortages, decrepit readiness and plummeting morale.

"These retention symptoms remind me of the challenges I had as a junior officer during the post-Vietnam War era, during a downsize," said Greenert, who entered the submarine force in 1975.

The retention alarm was first sounded last year by a fighter pilot, Cmdr. Guy Snodgrass, who argued in a paper that both senior and junior officers were beginning to walk. Snodgrass pointed to erosion of trust in senior leaders, budget cuts and high operational tempo, among other factors, as the cause of what he called a coming retention crisis.

Greenert also bemoaned the maintenance issues caused by sequestration, and said the service would still need three years to dig itself out of the delays caused by the first round of budget cuts.

Longer deployments are a direct result of budget cuts, and they're hurting sailors and families, he said.

"The first round of sequestration forced reductions in afloat and ashore operations, it generated ship and aircraft maintenance backlogs, and it compelled us to extend unit deployments," Greenert said.

"Since 2013, our carrier strike groups, our amphibious ready groups and most of our destroyers have been on deployments lasting eight to 10 months or longer. This has come at a cost of our sailors and our families' resiliency, reduced the performance of our equipment, and it will reduce the service lives of our ships."

Cuts have also cut the number of forces ready to deploy in an emergency, he said.

"Due to sequestration, our contingency response force — that's what's on call here in the United States — is one-third of what it should be and what it needs to be," he said, adding that continued cuts would pare the number down ever further.

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2015/01/28/greenert-senate-navy-retention-falling/22480849/

Response by PO2 Steven Erickson made Jan 29 at 2015 11:18 AM

PO2 Steven Erickson — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 11:18:35 -0500

GIVE 'EM THE KNIFE HAND, ADMIRAL!!!!!

(He's wearing Dolphins. YAY!)

Response by PO2 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 29 at 2015 1:02 PM

PO2 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 13:02:12 -0500

Yes! Someone is sticking up for the little men! I'm trying to decide which way I want to go if they keep cutting the budget I'm going to finish my enlistment and I'm done. If not I will stay. I love the Navy, but sometimes you have to think about the future.

Response by SGT Jim Z. made Jan 29 at 2015 5:10 PM

SGT Jim Z. — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 17:10:03 -0500

Hopefully the Armed Forces Service Committee and the budget committees in that circus called Congress is listening to not only the CNO but the other service chiefs as well.

Response by SGT Craig Northacker made Feb 26 at 2015 9:36 AM

SGT Craig Northacker — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 09:36:31 -0500

Craig Northacker • 8 minutes ago First - my response - then the article from Stars and Stripes.
The issue of leadership is pretty simple. Execute the mission and take care of your troops. One less F-35, of dubious quality by current wisdom, would go a long way in taking care of our troops. The shareholders making an extra few dividends from the F-35 while hurting our troops morale is not a trade-off. It is an abuse. Someone mentioned simple corruption. I was in Congress when they were discussing procurement problems and corruption. I asked that they simply have the IRS conduct cash flow audits-that would take care of a substantial amount of waste. That suggestion was met with a stony silence. I am a disabled vet and continuously fight the VA on issues such as toxic bio and chem combinations and other advocacy, and we are developing our own reintegration center at the Rockingham Speedway outside Bragg. One of our many programs is the continuing amalgamation of research in this area. To force our military into decisions because of budget politics benefiting those making big bucks in the procurement world - and to send them into the civilian world unprepared for the silliness that often awaits them.

Enlisted leaders tell Congress budget uncertainties hurt morale
By Travis J. Tritten
Stars and Stripes
Published: February 25, 2015

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey awaits the start of a hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations' Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Capitol Hill, Feb. 25, 2015. Behind him are, from left, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody, Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Ronald Green and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Michael D. Stephens.
JOE GROMELSKI/STARS AND STRIPES
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WASHINGTON — Top enlisted military leaders said Wednesday that servicemembers and their families are stressed and worried about looming changes to compensation, benefits and support services.

That anxiety is threatening overall morale, and appears well-founded: Tight budgets for the coming year call for slashing such spending and will mean forcing out quality troops who in the past could have served a full 20-year career, the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force leaders testified to House lawmakers.

The testimony is part of a budget drama playing out on Capitol Hill, in which Congress is scrambling to find a solution to budget caps it passed in prior sessions. A defense spending cap due to kick in this fall has triggered dire warnings from the Pentagon and many lawmakers, who say anemic funding is damaging the military’s ability to defend the country and fight wars.

Soldiers “see the future. They see it on the news every day, and they see uncertainty and it bothers them,” Army Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Dailey told a House Appropriations subcommittee. “What I really need is them focused on the mission and saving their fellow soldiers’ lives.”

The services have said they are still reeling from an initial round of budget caps in 2013. After Congress struck an agreement to put off the caps for two years, the spending limits are set to resume and hold the Department of Defense base budget at $523 billion, allowing for a modest $1.7-billion increase.

The Army is already facing reduced training, facilities in disrepair, decreased access to services and fewer opportunities for advancement due to a shrinking force, Dailey said.

Lawmakers are now considering major overhauls of the military retirement and health insurance systems as well as cuts to benefits such as commissaries to keep up with the spending limit for the coming year. A congressionally appointee panel has recommended replacing the current 20-year retirement with a 401(k)-style contribution system and abolishing Tricare health insurance in favor of a privatized marketplace.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Michael Stevens said sailors are most concerned about changes to the health insurance system. But changes on compensation and base support programs such as fleet and family services and family readiness also loom large.

The ongoing discussion in Congress have created an air of uncertainty and anxiety — “just the wondering of what is going to be the future,” Stevens told lawmakers.

Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody echoed the concerns, saying the changes could come on top of an extremely stressful year for airmen, and personnel reductions that have left the service at its smallest size since its creation in 1947.

Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala., said a community meeting about the issues Monday at her state’s Fort Rucker drew 1,600 people, and underscores the interest among troops.

“Our military families are not immune to the 24-hour news cycle,” which has closely followed the debate over defense spending, Roby said.

“This is not the right way to go about supporting our military families,” she said. “I just want to make my position clear: We’ve got to fix this.”

Many other members of Congress have said the same thing, but a legislative solution has remained elusive. Democrats and Republicans are at odds over how to offset any increase in defense spending.

Rep. David Price, D-N.C., whose district borders Fort Bragg, called the budget caps irrational and destructive, and said lawmakers must seek at least another short-term agreement to put them off again.

Such a legislative deal would be “nothing to write home about” but would protect the U.S. military for a while longer, Price said.

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Twitter: @Travis_Tritten

Response by PO1 Glenn Boucher made May 14 at 2015 2:18 PM

PO1 Glenn Boucher — Thu, 14 May 2015 14:18:41 -0400

In all honesty I never gave a crap about the budget. I loved the Navy for what it did for me overall and that was to help me mature and grow. I basically went around the world and it changed my outlook. I seriously doubt that I would have had many of these great experiences had I not joined.
As for the budget, they need to focus on taking care of the troops with pay and benefit increases. That is what affects morale and readiness. Tools are just tools.
Our leadership says we need the newest fighter jet, bomber, missile, etc., no what they fail to realize is that all of the new and shiny "toys" almost never are built to agreed upon specifications and they need years and years of additional "development and deployment" to get to the original specifications.
What the JCS needs to do is focus on taking care of its people then upgrading or purchasing new systems and only if they will meet design specifications, not because Lockheed, Northrup-Grumann says they have a new toy that will only go over budget by a few billion and will not be delivered up to specs, but can get to specs with additional funding and time.