Faced with the need to reduce spending by $4.8 billion under this year’s budget, Air Force leaders wanted most of the cuts to come from the Air National Guard. Congress disagreed and the fight over where to cut in the future continues.
The Air Force submitted an FY13 budget under which the active duty force absorbed only 17 percent of the unit cuts, even though 67 percent of Air Force personnel are on active duty. Congress reacted furiously, forced a compromise, and created a National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force to report back before any further decisions are made.
To read the full op-ed, click here.
_______________________________
This op-ed was first published in DefenseOne on August 29, 2013
Photo by DVIDSHUB via flickr
Grand Strategy
Faced with the need to reduce spending by $4.8 billion under this year’s budget, Air Force leaders wanted most of the cuts to come from the Air National Guard. Congress disagreed and the fight over where to cut in the future continues.
The Air Force submitted an FY13 budget under which the active duty force absorbed only 17 percent of the unit cuts, even though 67 percent of Air Force personnel are on active duty. Congress reacted furiously, forced a compromise, and created a National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force to report back before any further decisions are made.
To read the full op-ed, click here.
_______________________________
This op-ed was first published in DefenseOne on August 29, 2013
Photo by DVIDSHUB via flickr
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