Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn on Wednesday called on Congress to complete work on a defense spending bill for Fiscal 2011. “Unfortunately, if the Congress leaves the department on a year-long continuing resolution for Fiscal 2011 at reduced funding levels, we will likely see a drop in both effectiveness and efficiency this year,” Lynn told the House Armed Services Committee while testifying on the Pentagon’s efficiency initiative and budget matters. The continuing resolution, if it remains in place, will provide $530 billion for national defense this fiscal year, down about $18 billion from the Pentagon’s original budget request. Lynn said the reduced level “would cause severe problems, likely requiring us to curtail critical activities needed to support our troops and carry out our national security mission.” (Lynn’s prepared remarks) (See also Budget Outlook from the Daily Report archives)
The Air Force kicked off one of its biggest exercises this week with the latest edition of Bamboo Eagle, featuring combined virtual and live training scenarios focused on test the command-and-control “nervous system” leaders need to operate on a complex joint battlefield spread over vast distances.
