Sequestration already biting Navy, Marines readiness

Defense Department leaders spent months warning Congress that military readiness would begin to erode if sequestration went into effect on March 1. The Navy and Marine Corps are telling lawmakers that it's now happening and that things will only get worse from here.

"What we usually call that is surge capacity, the ability to quickly send ships and planes forward, and we've significantly reduced that capability."

Across government, agencies say the impact of sequestration will be somewhat insidious. But in the case of DoD's two sea services, they're already feeling it, officials told the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness.

Vice Adm. William Burke, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems, Navy

"Due to reduced training and maintenance, almost all of our non-deployed ships and aviation squadrons are soon going to be less than fully mission capable and not certified for major combat operations. That's about two-thirds of the fleet," said Vice Adm. William Burke, the deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems.

Two months into sequestration, the Marine Corps told a similar story. Lt. Gen. William Tryon, the deputy commandant for plans, policies and logistics, said more than half of all non-deployed Marine units are currently at "unacceptable" levels of readiness.

"And our crisis response mission is incompatible with tiered readiness," he said. "Marines don't start to get ready when a crisis occurs. We must be ready, we must be forward deployed and we must be prepared to respond immediately."

Limited surge capacity

Both services say they have not yet been put in a position in which they've been forced to deploy forces and equipment without the requisite training and preparation.

Sailors and marines who are currently deployed or who are next in line to deploy have had their training funded. But to accomplish that in the context of severely constricted operating and maintenance budgets, the services say they've had to virtually eliminate training for service members in line behind them.

"The ones that are not next to deploy are not doing very much," Burke said. "What we usually call that is surge capacity, the ability to quickly send ships and planes forward, and we've significantly reduced that capability."

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/1103/3307125/Sequestration-already-biting-Navy-Marines-readiness