By Amaani Lyle
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, March 5, 2015 – The Marine Corps has adjusted to
budget constraints by prioritizing the readiness of forward deployed forces,
the service’s top officer told Congress yesterday.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. told the
Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee that amid budget
uncertainty, the Marine Corps will strive to meet America’s expectations to
successfully operate forward, engage with partners, deter potential adversaries
and respond to crises, with 31,000 Marines currently forward deployed and
engaged.
Recent Marine Corps missions, Dunford reported, include
support to U.S. citizen evacuations in Sudan, Libya and Yemen, ongoing strikes
in Syria and Iraq, Iraqi army training and U.S. Embassy protection in Baghdad.
Concurrently, 22,500 Marines remain west of the
International Date Line in support of the U.S. rebalance to the Pacific region,
the general said.
Budget Informs Decisions
The budget informs how the Marine Corps mans, trains and
equips, Dunford said, and also informs how it prioritizes and allocates
resources Congress allows.
“I can assure that your forward-deployed Marines are
well-trained, well-led and well-equipped,” he told the senators, “but we’ve had
to make tough choices to deal with the effects of two wars, sequestration in
2013, and reduced budgets in 2014 and 2015.”
But forward-deployed force readiness, Dunford acknowledged,
has come at the expense of investments in home-station readiness,
modernization, infrastructure sustainment and quality-of-life programs.
“Approximately half of our nondeployed units … who would
respond to unforeseen contingencies suffer personnel, equipment or training
shortfalls,” the admiral said. “In a major conflict, those shortfalls will
result in a delayed response and/or the unnecessary loss of young American
lives.”
Failure to Modernize Threatens Competitive Advantage
Over time, underinvesting in modernization will force the
Marine Corps to maintain older, degraded or obsolete equipment at a higher
cost, the commandant said. “It will eventually ruin our competitive advantage,”
he added, “and we don’t ever want our Marines and sailors in a fair fight.”
Ultimately, the Marine Corps can meet defense strategic
guidance requirements with the president’s fiscal year 2016 budget request, but
there is no margin attached to that bottom line, Dunford emphasized.
“Funding below the president’s budget level will require we
develop a new strategy,” the general told the Senate panel.
Budget Control Act funding levels, which currently require a
return to sequestration spending cuts, would exacerbate the current readiness
state, forcing of the Marine Corps to reduce the size of battalions and
squadrons required to respond immediately to crises involving diplomatic posts,
Americans citizens or U.S. interests.
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