Sequester causing lasting damage to defense.

• Author: Farrell, Lawrence P. Jr.
• Position: President's Perspective

The 29 members of the House-Senate budget conference committee are at work as they seek to reconcile differences between their respective budgets. They face a Dec. 13 deadline.

Members have warned that nobody should expect a grand bargain out of the conference. The Defense Department and industry are hoping for a delay to sequestration, so that a return to regular order--that is, real budgets--can permit rational planning. The delay would allow government agencies and contractors to attain a more reasonable and doable glide slope. As things stand now, sequester has been a disaster, but one that promises to grow much worse.

Aside from the obvious adverse impact to investment accounts and programs, near term readiness rates are approaching dangerously low levels. Most people, including members of Congress, lacked a sufficient appreciation of just how dangerous this really was. To address this gap, the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee chaired a classified readiness briefing for members and senators. NDLA and partner associations dispatched letters to all congressional leaders urging attendance.

Many observers only see the obvious impacts of sequester that have been covered by the news media, such as the effects on high visibility programs like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Virginia-class submarines and DDG-51 destroyers to name a few. These three programs come down 22 percent in fiscal year 2014 under sequester, compared to 2013. News articles often point out that the "generals are still asking for more." The implication is that military officials are really asking for too much. Again, this goes back to the under-appreciated outcomes from sequestration.

The HASC recently sent an analysis to the conferees that detailed a loss of 100,000 troops with continued sequestration, a Navy of 230 ships, the smallest Air Force ever and the leanest ground forces since 1940. At this level, the military will lose the ability to conduct multiple contingencies at the same time. Think back to recent events such as the capture of Osama bin Laden, the response to the Japanese tsunami and the intervention in the Libyan crisis. In five more years, we will only be able to respond to one.

Just this month, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel dispatched the George Washington carrier battle group to the Philippines to assist in recovery operations following the devastating typhoon that roared through those islands. In five years, we might be reluctant to send...