Mullen: DOD Must Help Solve Federal Debt Crisis

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2011 – The Defense Department has to be part of the solution for the country’s debt crisis, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen has called the federal debt “the biggest single threat to national security.”

It is simple math, the admiral told a Government Executive Magazine leadership forum at the National Press Club. “The worse the financial situation is in the country, the greater the likelihood that resources for national security will go down,” he said.

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Defense Department budget has almost doubled. Having this ready spigot of money “hasn’t forced us to make the hard choices,” Mullen said.

“It hasn’t forced us to prioritize,” he explained. “It hasn’t forced us to do the analysis. And it hasn’t forced us to limit ourselves and get to a point or deciding, in a very turbulent world, what we’re going to do and what we’re not going to do.”

Defense spending needs to be on the table, the chairman said, noting that it is his job to articulate national security requirements. The country is in a particularly difficult situation, he said, in regard to Air Force modernization.

“We are running out of life in those assets that we bought in the ’80s during the Reagan administration,” he said.

The national security environment is changing, Mullen said, and often changes. The chairman told the audience that four months ago, he would not have predicted that he would be concerned about Japan and Libya. But now a NATO operation is under way to protect the Libyan people from Moammar Gadhafi’s regime, and an earthquake and tsunami disaster sent almost 20,000 U.S. service members and 18 ships to the coast of Japan to assist in the aftermath.

“The demands continue,” he said. “We’ve got to be measured about what we’re going to do and what we’re not going to do.”

The chairman said he is worried about ill-advised personnel cuts “hollowing out” the military.

“However we get to our future, it must be whole,” he said. “We talk about cuts in personnel. When I was head of the Navy, personnel was 60 percent of my budget every year. I need every single person I have, but I don’t need one more.”

Although eliminating force structure can save a lot of money, Mullen said, the country must evaluate that against overall requirements.

Health care costs for the Defense Department, Mullen said, are another concern. In fiscal 2001, health care costs were $19 billion. Today, those costs are pegged at $51 billion, and they are projected to rise to $64 billion in 2015.

“That’s not sustainable,” he said. “We all have to sharpen our pencils and make sure that every dollar we spend is spent well. We need to be good stewards of the dollars the American taxpayers give us, and we’re going to have to do the hard work to get that right.”

Chairman, Undersecretary Visit Deployed Troops

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, April 24, 2011 – The man who is responsible for personnel and readiness issues for the Defense Department observed how his decisions impact the fight during his visits to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq this past week.

Dr. Clifford L. Stanley, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, accompanied Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to meet with overseas-deployed military members serving at forward operating bases and main installations.

“I’m responsible for all people in the military,” Stanley said yesterday during an interview aboard a C-17 aircraft en route to Washington. “I can’t do my job just by pushing papers. I need to be out here understanding the operations, understanding what our troops go through.”

In Afghanistan, the retired Marine Corps major general visited service members at Bagram Air Field and Forward Operating Base Salerno in Regional Command—East and Kandahar in RC-South. He also met with military personnel assigned to the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. In Iraq, Stanley visited facilities in and around Baghdad. And when the C-17 he was riding in on the way home stopped at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Mullen and Stanley met with troops at Landstuhl Medical Center.

“I was able to speak to a great many people,” Stanley said. “This [experience] will help me do my job.”

As undersecretary, Stanley has responsibility for setting military and civilian personnel policy, the DOD health care system, family matters policies and issues, wounded warrior policies, DOD dependent schools, recruiting, retention and manning issues, to name just a few.

Stanley has been involved in personnel policy issues related to the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law, and he has helped to develop the training the services are putting into place.

Stanley also is a key player in Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ campaign to seek efficiencies across the department. The closure of U.S. Joint Forces Command and the decision to reduce Army and Marine Corps end strength beginning in fiscal 2015, he said, were among the personnel recommendations in DOD’s drive to save taxpayer dollars.

Visiting troops deployed to combat zones, Stanley said, helps him to focus on what is truly important, and what it is the nation is asking these young men and women to do.

“This helps me do my job better, and gives me more information to set priorities in the Pentagon,” he said.

Stanley said he found that the troops are proud of their service and “they felt they were making a difference. They really are heroes.”

This does not mean service members don’t have concerns and they expressed them to the chairman and undersecretary at “All Hands” sessions in Afghanistan and Iraq and during smaller meetings with senior noncommissioned officers and junior officers.

Service members asked the undersecretary and the chairman how budget cuts might affect personnel issues. Both Stanley and Mullen said that they want to ensure that personnel items in the budget are addressed first, so that service members receive the training, supplies and equipment they require before deploying. They also said that they will protect effective programs that support military families.

Both men emphasized that the U.S. military must continue attracting the right recruits, and also retain the best of this generation’s combat-hardened officers and NCOs. If that happens, the services will weather the budgetary storm, Mullen said.

Stanley said he was not pleased by the threatened shut down of the federal government on April 8, which was averted by an 11th-hour compromise on Capitol Hill.

“I need to tell you personally, we don’t need to be having any more conversations about government shutdowns that affect [service members’] pay,” he said. “That is totally un-sat, totally un-sat.”

Military pay ought to be exempt from the effects of any shutdown, Stanley said. Political leaders can shut down the government, he said, but service members should be paid.

“Don’t touch their pay -– not them,” Stanley said. “We ask too much of them. They are risking their lives for us, and their families depend on getting those paychecks on time.”

Troops to Receive Full Mid-month Pay on April 15th

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2011 – All service members will receive their full mid-month pay they have earned in their April 15th paychecks, Pentagon officials said today.

“Basically, all active duty and reserve service members will receive full mid-month pay on the 15th of April,” Pentagon spokesman Marine Col. Dave Lapan said. “It may be in two separate payments, but on the 15th everyone will receive their full allotted pay.”

Confusion arose about the April 15 payday due to the threatened closure of the U.S. government last week. Administration and congressional leaders came to an agreement that ended that action late on April 8.

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service had posted “net pay advice” to some service members, telling them what to expect in their accounts.

“Those net pay advice statements were made … before we knew there was an agreement to fund the government,” Lapan said. “When those were posted they only showed partial payments, but again, everyone will receive their full pay on the 15th for the duty served and it may be in more than one deposit.”

Officials urge service members to check their end-of-month leave and earnings statements carefully. The normal end-of-month statements will be posted to accounts on April 22.

The finance and accounting service has restored access to all leave and earnings statements, net pay advice or advice of pay for service members on the Mypay website.

“The most-current advice of pay will still only show the partial payments for April 1-8,” the finance service posted on its website. “This will allow us to make sure we can still process pay for April 9-15 and take steps to ensure it is in bank accounts on the 15th.”

Deal Averts Shutdown, Normal Government Operations to Continue

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2011 – Government agencies are continuing normal operations after the administration, the Senate and the House of Representatives agreed to a fiscal 2011 budget.

The continuing resolution expired last night at midnight, but the Senate and House passed a short-term funding bill that will allow both houses to finalize the full-year spending bill. Officials expect that bill to be passed and signed by mid-week.

“This agreement between Democrats and Republicans on behalf of all Americans is on a budget that invests in our future while making the largest annual spending cut in our history,” President Barack Obama said last night from the White House. “Like any worthwhile compromise, both sides had to make tough decisions and give ground on issues that were important to them. And I certainly did that.”

There will be no interruption in operations for the Defense Department, DOD officials said last night. Service members and civilian employees will receive their pays as normal, and no operations will be curtailed or eliminated.

“This is good news for the American people,” Obama said during an address from the White House last night. “It means that small businesses can get the loans they need, our families can get the mortgages they applied for, folks can visit our national parks and museums, and hundreds of thousands of Americans will get their paychecks on time, including our brave men and women in uniform.”

The agreement calls for $38.5 billion in cuts from the government budget. This is $79 billion less than what the president proposed originally in February 2010.

“Some of the cuts we agreed to will be painful,” the president said. “Programs people rely on will be cut back. Needed infrastructure projects will be delayed. And I would not have made these cuts in better circumstances. But beginning to live within our means is the only way to protect those investments that will help America compete for new jobs – investments in our kids’ education and student loans, in clean energy and life-saving medical research. We protected the investments we need to win the future.”

Obama thanked House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for their leadership in the process. “It’s my sincere hope that we can continue to come together as we face the many difficult challenges that lie ahead, from creating jobs and growing our economy to educating our children and reducing our deficit,” Obama said. “That’s what the American people expect us to do. That’s why they send us here.”

Had the government shut down, officials expected around 400,000 DOD employees to be furloughed and problems with pay and other fiscal obligations. The president announced the deal less than an hour before the continuing resolution would have run out and operations would have ceased. The last government shutdown occurred in 1996.

Navy Exchanges, Lodges to Remain Open During Possible Government Shutdown

By Kristine M. Sturkie, Navy Exchange Service Command Public Affairs

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va (NNS) -- The Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM) announced April 8, that NEXs and Navy Lodges worldwide will remain open in the event of a U.S. government shut down.

"NEXs and Navy Lodges are non-appropriated funded activities and therefore will not be affected by any government shut down," said Rear Adm. (Sel) Glenn C. Robillard, commander, Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM). "NEXs will continue to operate at their normal hours."

The mission of the Navy Exchange System is to provide quality goods and services at a savings, and to support Navy quality of life programs.

As federal shutdown looms, Wisconsin National Guard still available for state emergencies

Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs Office

The Wisconsin National Guard will remain available to respond to declared state emergencies, regardless if a federal government shutdown occurs at midnight tonight (April 8).

While the National Guard is federally funded, state funds are used when the National Guard is called to state duty for declared emergencies.

"Our core mission to the people of Wisconsin is not jeopardized by temporary federal budget issues," said Brig. Gen. Don Dunbar, adjutant general of Wisconsin. "If the governor needs us, we are there."

The lack of a federal budget, however, is having an impact on the Wisconsin National Guard.

A Wisconsin National Guard Family Program Conference and Youth Symposium scheduled for this weekend in Oconomowoc, Wis., has been cancelled as it would extend beyond the projected start of a federal funding freeze. Similarly, Guard units have been informed that all training for this weekend is cancelled.

"This is disappointing but necessary," Dunbar said.

While federal agencies have indicated that frontline homeland security and law enforcement personnel would continue operations during a shutdown, roughly 650 of the Wisconsin National Guard's approximately 900 federal technicians may be furloughed for an undetermined time.

Full-time National Guard members serving as Active Guard Reservists (AGR) and some federal technicians will not be furloughed.

Wisconsin National Guard federal technicians will not be allowed to serve as unpaid volunteers during the furlough, and may not take paid leave even if approved prior to the furlough.

Approximately 700 Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers and Airmen currently deployed in support of the global war on terror will continue their mission, but according to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service may not receive pay until Congress agrees on a budget.