Marine Corps to replace Humvees. Inouye said the
vehicle, for which the Pentagon requested $243.9 million next year, had experienced excessive cost growth
and constantly changing requirements.
“The committee believes that alternatives exist
today to meet the Army and Marine Corps’ requirements to recapitalize and competitively upgrade the
Humvee fleet,” Inouye said.
Naval Aviation Leaders
Voice Budget Concerns
Naval aviation flag officers attending the 2011
Tailhook Association convention in Reno, Nev., said
they were bracing for budget cuts in upcoming years as
the nation deals with trillions of dollars of deficits.
Addressing questions from an audience as modera-
tor of a flag panel Sept. 10, Vice Adm. Allen G. Myers
IV, commander, Naval Air Forces, said, “Everything is
on the table. You understand how grim this can be to
our national economy and our debt. Nothing has been
decided. There is no budget; that won’t go forward
until February.”
“We’re breaking some new ground,” said Vice Adm.
William E. Gortney, director of operations for the Joint
Staff. “We’ve got to deal with the debt and everybody’s
going to have to pay their part. Our government’s
going to have to figure out how to make that work.”
Gortney said that as the leadership is confronted
with tough decisions, there are two things that must be
maintained.
“First, we cannot break faith with the all-volunteer
force,” he said. “We cannot afford the all-volunteer
force we have today. So we have some tough choices.
… Second, we need to sustain the industrial base and
the intellectual industrial base, so that when things are
better, we’re able to then recapitalize for the tough
choices we had to make in the near term.
“All of the service chiefs are committed not to hollow out the force,” Gortney said. “All of the services
are going to be smaller in the future. That’s a reality. In
order to meet the bill, we’re going to have to make
some tough force structure cuts. The force that
remains needs to be able to fight and win. The service
chiefs are committed to make that happen.
“After World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold
War, there was a 25 percent reduction in DoD’s budget
every single time,” he said. “We’re trying not to have a
25 percent reduction. We need to invest in the capabil-
ity that will allow us to fight [a near-peer competitor]
and win and dominate, which is the American way of
war. Agility is absolutely critical.”
“There is strong support across everywhere for the
value of the carriers, of the Navy and what we’re
doing,” said Vice Adm. David Architzel, commander,
