(MintPress) – The Army and the Navy may be running out of money. As reported by Politico, the Army and the Navy have been spending at rates higher than those set by Congress, which threatens to deplete the appropriated budgets of the two military branches prior to the end of the fiscal year. In light of looming sequestration cuts, this “double-whammy” threatens to severely cripple the military readiness of the nation.
The Army and the Navy — and to a lesser degree, the Marines — have been allowed by the White House to exceed their daily spending rate. This daily rate was set by continuing resolution that governs government-wide appropriations. Unless Congress agrees to extend the military’s appropriations budget, the Army and the Navy will face serious shortfalls in their operational budgets.
The Air Force is operating below its spending rate.
The Congressional rate is based on the length of the resolution that determines spending in relations to the length of the fiscal year. As the resolution covers 178 days, the rate is 48.77 percent of the appropriations budget. The daily rate is determined by the White House budget office.
The Army is spending at about a percentage point over the rate, while the Navy is at 3.5 points over the rate. As the military budgets are measured in hundreds of billions of dollars, the seemingly small overspending actually constitutes billions of dollars that must be reapportioned. The Army faces a $5.86 billion shortfall, the Navy $3.25 billion and the Marines $406 million. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta puts the total operational budget shortfall at $11 billion.
This is compounded by the scheduled March 1 sequestration, or automatic cuts, to military and domestic spending. These cuts would require the Pentagon to cut at least $42 billion from its 2014 budget. The 2013 Army budget calls for $184.6 billion, or $18 billion less than 2012. Despite an 1.7 percent pay increase for soldiers and allowance increases for housing and subsistence, the Army intend to dismiss 41,000 soldiers this year, in addition to the 25,400 that were dismissed last year.
With the automatic spending cuts, the Army may have to discharge an additional 100,000 soldiers and reservists. Army Gen. Raymond Odierno testified in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that soldiers preparing to go into Afghanistan would fall behind in their training, delaying possible deployment to 2014. “I know what is required to send soldiers into combat. And I’ve seen firsthand the consequences when they are sent unprepared,” he told the committee.
The Army has already laid off 3,100 civilian workers, instituted a hiring freeze, and is planning a 22-day unpaid furlough for its 251,000 civilian employees at one day per week for 22 weeks. Educational courses, training and certifications will also be curtailed.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in regards to severe cuts to the military’s budget, “I will tell you personally, if ever the force is so degraded and so unready, and then we’re asked to use it, it would be immoral to use the force unless it’s well-trained, well-led and well-equipped.”