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White House cuts funding for (Soldier) gear (Armored vests & armored vehicles)
Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON
House lawmakers on Thursday blasted a White House decision not to provide money next fiscal year for upgrades to combat-worn equipment, and promised a fight to put billions back into the defense budget.
The House version of the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill already contains about $20 billion for the repair of equipment worn down by desert conditions and purchase of new gear to replace items destroyed in combat. About $11 billion of the total is for the Army alone.
But that’s down more than $2 billion from previous years’ requests, and doesn’t include any funds for things like vehicle armor improvements, new communications equipment or other upgrades.
Officials from the Office of Management and Budget said money for those improvements will come from the Army’s base budget, and not from the extra overseas contingency funds meant to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli said Tuesday that the directive outlining the funding change effectively cuts any such recapitalization work next year.
“For the most part, adding on upgrades to equipment won’t be allowed in FY2010,” he said. “I think it makes a lot of sense to upgrade when we can. But the new rules are that we can’t do that.”
In a statement OMB officials said the move “is part of a long-overdue attempt to rationalize how the Administration requests funding for war, versus non-war programs, forces and activities.”
But news of the policy upset lawmakers, who said they were unaware of any limits on equipment reset for next year and were concerned about shortchanging the services.
“If we’re going to do this on the basis of … a budget number, as opposed to our obligation to provide what [the services] need, then I have a real dilemma here,” said Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii. “I can’t say we’re giving a number that really provides for the military’s necessity.”
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., said OMB may have overstepped its boundaries in the directive by limiting how the reset fund can be spent, and said he believes the Army and Marine Corps should receive the money they need for critical readiness upgrades next year.
OMB officials did not provide comment by deadline, but service officials confirmed the overseas contingency operations directive was provided to the Pentagon as part of the budget process earlier this year.
Congress has authorized nearly $70 billion for reset and upgrades of equipment since 2006, money that doesn’t include funds to fast-track production of combat necessities like Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles.
Army and Marine Corps officials have said throughout that shortfalls in equipment and repair funding would not endanger troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, since they’re constantly supplied with the best-conditioned vehicles and gear available.
But units training in the States, or those in noncombat units based overseas, have been stuck with older equipment and faced shortfalls in getting up-to-date training equipment.
Chiarelli said he’s confident the $11 billion the Army requested for fiscal 2010 — about $8 billion for logistics costs and depot maintenance, and $3 billion for procurement and repair — is enough to keep missions and training operating smoothly.
“We are able with the funds available to reset equipment,” he said. “We understand the tremendous fiscal crisis our country has gone through. As long as we can reset our equipment, we understand that because of fiscal requirements it may be in the best interest of our country as a whole to cut back on recapitalization.”
The Marine Corps is expected to receive about $2 billion in reset funds, and the National Guard and Reserve another $7 billion.
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Wild Thing’s comment…….
The RATS need all of those funds to push their commie agenda. Obama and the left have no respect for the troops or their families
They are determined to destroy our military and to leave them minimally equipped right in the MIDDLE of a war with 2 fronts.These people are systematically deconstructing America. Damn the traitors Obama really is evil. Debilitating our military while at war with radical Islamic jihadists is NOT a good idea. TREASON!
So this means the troops themselves will have to buy the armor gear for themselves out of their pockets. OMG!
Obama is putting our Troops in harm’s way…….on purpose. OBAMA how can you do this, PLEASE stop messing with our troops!!!!!
Muslim breath Barack Hussein Obama military policy so far:
* Miranda Rights for Terrorists / Terrorists Captured on Battlefield Have Constitutional Rights (Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said that the Obama administration’s policy of reading Miranda rights to terrorists captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan is “outrageous.” )
* Gays ask and tell
* Fight Taliban with hands tied
* Don’t shoot back at Taliban Terrorists!
* And don’t bother the women and men in burqas!
* Cancel F-22 and Missile Defense
* Watch out for the Poppy Fields, don’t disturb the poppies
* Implement ban on smoking who cares how slow they do it the fact it is in the works is anti-troops
* Cancel Body armor and vehicle funding.
Soooooo what is next, tanks made of plastic or something????
How dare they use my nephew as a pawn! Unbelievable! They’re just mad because cap and trade and the government run healthcare isn’t going as planned. Yesterday, we got an email that those who are in favor of those were having a rally at the park, so we should be there by 1 to counter protest. But no one showed up. It was a red herring. They’ve taken to lying about their protests to make us not in favor look stupid. They will stop at nothing to get their agenda through and then blame the previous President for all the extra deaths that happened because they were forced to cut military spending because we wouldn’t allow cap and trade and government run healthcare to pass.
My eldest is in the Army Reserve in Syracuse, NY and I am sure this isn’t going over very well at all. My daughter-in-law gets upset at such things. Very upset.
At least we are clear on how the cinc feels about the members of the Armed Forces. Whether you are active, reserve or retired, we are definitely considered second class citizens by the current administration. It is beginning to take on that feeling from the late sixties and early seventies. Which is something I remember all too well. Particularly when his enablers, such as Hastings, Holder and company are in on it.
I disagree to this point. UNLEASH THE DOGS and we wouldn’t need kevlar and body armor and souped up vehicles! Think of WW II and our Devil Dogs at Iwo Jima and soldiers at Normandy… Get the USAF back into LETHAL AIR POWER and search and destroy. End of discussion!
(Money Mouse and Dinero Duck were great Wild Thing!)TGISunday!!
That was my point yesterday, return to the rules of engagement of the Tarawa. The Marines killed, blew up and burnt everything that moved. Also bring back the M67A2 flame tank, it worked great on Okinawa and in Vietnam, Hue in 68 saw a lot of use. It would be great for rooting these jihadist bastards out of caves or sealing them in. The battle for Tarawa lasted 72 hours.
Body Armor has its place, I guess. After the first week in Santo Damingo, we were sitting 12 on 12 off on the Radio and on one of the off times were told to unload a Jeep trailer full of Body Armor, that was going to be sent back to the ships. The first one I grabbed was covered in blood, I looked at it, held it up not a hole in it. As far as I could tell the damn thing was useless. Those steel pots couldn’t stop bullets either. Whether a Kevlar Helmet can I am not sure . I guess the vest does a good job but there is no protection for the legs or throat and face.
In Vietnam the body Armor was heavy and hot. Most everyone wore the vest but the bad part was it was so humid they were worn OPEN and not closed up.Then there was that ‘bathing suit’ you were suppose to wear over the groin. Those were thrown out as soon as they were issued. How’d they expect anyone to move.
All the troops I see TODAY wear the stuff so it must be doing a good job. So why is obama refusing to pay for something that will save AMERICAN LIVES. Because he’s pissed away so much money on his democrat pork package, that isn’t working and he has run out of money, so the Military is taking the hit for it.
All this moron knows how to do is spend money on junk to ensure his own re election. He is a despicable POS.
Millions of dollars for ACORN. Millions of dollars for other radical anti-American groups. But cut back on defense funds. Not surprising from the anti-American obama.
I wonder if the MSM will be all over obama as they were all over Bush when the uparmoring of vehicles was not going fast enough.
Ah, deploying to hostile fire zones with crappy equipment, inadequate parts and supplies and too many places to cover during the Clinton era… I’d missed it all SO much. Thank you, all you clods who voted Democrat out there!
Minorities :
We need to show more sympathy for these people.
* They travel miles in the heat.
* They risk their lives crossing a border.
* They don’t get paid enough wages.
* They do jobs that others won’t do or are afraid to do.
* They live in crowded conditions among a people who speak a different language.
* They rarely see their families, and they face adversity all day ~ every day.
I’m not talking about illegal Mexicans
~ I’m talking about our Troops!
Doesn’t it seem strange that the majority of Democrats and some RINO Republicans are willing to lavish all kinds of social benefits on illegals, but don’t support our troops, and are even threatening to defund them?
I experienced the cutbacks in ’76-’77 under Gelded Ford and Jinmmy Cartuh, my 20 tank company had all 20 tanks removed from inventory and shipped to Israel, when asked about Armor to train in we were told to check out jeeps from the transportation motor pool, as a prior service volunteer I had a choice, I left the service. That same unit has pulled two tours in the sandbox as a leg unit.
My own experiences in the big shitty were no armor on any of the vehicles, we sometimes had other unit gun trucks and our organizational ‘gun’ jeeps, we modified our own, but very rare escorts, often runs were made without external security, we had one 5 ton tractor with a Ma Deuce on a ring mount running into Pleiku. Scared shitless is an understatement, when you are ordered into the DMZ without an escort at night armed with a POS M16 and 180 rounds of ball ammo.
Like my brothers in the Marine Corps, we had the very best money can buy, Lyndon and Robert Strange really had our best interests at heart, they spared nothing on us.
With the exception of replacement vehicles and 3 each 2-1/2 ton vehicles , all 63 of the 5 tons were 1955-1958 post Korean War vehicles, parts were hard to obtain(impossible).
Personal armor were the flak vests that flies avoided landing on and that steel pot, sandbags on the floor and under the seats, even the doors were sand filled, every truck had a white Star bullseye painted on the cab door, with that flak vest firmly puckered beneath you.
Mark has described it well.
We all were raw from the effects of dirt, sweat, chemical agents, dysentery and a plethora of skin diseases, our groins were raw, cracked and bleeding, stripped, the skin looked like the ass of an elephant, most of us wore no undergarments as a result not even a blouse.
Water was always rationed, ours came from the local streams, siphoned into emptied fuel tankers, chlorine bleach was poured in to kill the bugs, often it looked like pale coffee, all the rainbow agents were in that stream runoff. It had a piquant flavor of JP4, buffalo shit and urine. What’s that stuff on the paddy dikes? Night soil I think it was called.
If you were lucky you bathed in a stream somewhere, if not you stank just like that poor bastard next to you, sick call didn’t exist, laundry was some Vietnamese woman pounding your clothes on rocks at the village stream, gladly paid for out of pocket. We didn’t have a medic, Dr. Sgt. Mother in supply had the Attabrine, Aspirin and that Orange MFR – Chloroquine, he also had the bone saw, scalpels, sutures and morphine in that tent, I carried two syrettes of morphine my entire tour in the battle dressing pouch along with two syrettes of Atropine Sulfate, you worked around the clock until you dropped and were evacuated mostly from exhaustion or malaria. We took casualties too, none fatal. F’king “A” Darth!!!
For God’s sake you duplicitous Democrat and RINO rat bastards don’t subject these kids to that kind of bullshit.
Lynn, oh wow thanks for sharing about that.
I agree Lynn, they will do whatever it takes.
Glenn Cassel AMH1(AW) USN RET, thank you
for sharing about your oldest. Please
thank him for serving our country.
I agree the left tries hard to make
those that served feel forgotten.They
don’t want to be reminded why they are
living in the land of the free.
But there are millions of us that
get right in their face and we remind
them every chance we get. I love doing
that and then watch them squirm and
say…oh well yes I am for our troops.
I smile and say nope your not, just keep
kidding yourself. But they are protecting
your butt along with mine, thank goodness
it is not up to me who they protect. You
might not like it.
Darth, I would love that so much. Stupid
hateful Obama won’t let them unleash the
dogs, but oh I wish so much he would.
Mark, thank you so much for sharing about
all of that and your experiences with it.
Your right, this is all about trying
desperately to get more money for his
pork.
Tom, now that is an idea, he should take
the money from his horrible ACORN. I know
he won’t but sheesh better that then our
troops. grrrrr
Anonymous, I agree, thanks to all the creeps
that voted for this enemy of our troops.
Mark, OH WOW that is soooo good, thank you
so much.
Jack, I am so sorry, this is horrible and
this always comes from the left and how
they treat our troops. Jack thank you so
much for sharing your experiences about
this.
I cannot get my head around the fact
that any American would not want the
best of all things for our troops. They
are fighting the enemy of all of us.
This more then anything else has always
been my number one passion, to make
sure our troops and Vets know with all
they are how much we know of their
scarifices and how much they mean to us.
I HATE the left and Obama leads the way
in how they are so horrible to our troops,
back then and now.