The Pentagon could be placing itself at further risk by refusing to plan for the draconian spending cuts mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act’s sequestration clause, said Todd Harrison, a senior fellow for defense budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Harrison outlined four options for tackling the issue during a budget briefing with reporters in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, just days before the release of the Pentagon’s Fiscal 2013 spending proposal. The first is to simply let sequestration happen—DOD’s current path. The second option specifically targets cuts through a budget amendment that Congress would have to approve before the January 2013 deadline for sequestration taking effect. The third option—a short-term approach—is to utilize war funding to soften the blow. Finally, Harrison proposed backloading the spending cuts by reducing the budget 2.2 percent each year over the next 10 years. Continue
The top Air Force commander on on the Japanese island of Okinawa has clamped down alcohol and issued a curfew for junior enlisted Airmen and Guardians at Kadena Air Base for the next month. The order came roughly two weeks after a U.S. Marine was arrested for allegedly robbing and…