AUSA Calls for $90 Billion Investment in New Equipment to End 'Death Spiral in Modernizing our Armed Forces'
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ARLINGTON, Va. --- The Defense Department needs an immediate investment of $90 billion for new equipment to end the "death spiral in modernizing our armed forces,'' the president of the Association of the United States Army said.
Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., and president of the Association of the United States Army, warned in his Aug. 10 letter to association leaders that without this investment was critical to the future of readiness of the armed forces. "Procurement accounts were to be increased as we approached the new century, but they fell victim to maintaining short-term readiness and funding the strategy of engagement.'' Adding, "all the services now cope with equipment that has aged, has been overused and is costly to maintain.''
The Defense Department is spending less than $60 billion in research and development and procurement of new equipment.
In his fourth Torchbearer letter to 200 AUSA leaders, he cited a recent Congressional Budget Office report that the current investment target "will not allow us to replace or refurbish aging equipment and plow funds into critical technologies.''
Sullivan, a former chief of staff of the Army, said the nation has reaped a $750-billion peace dividend since the end of the Cold War in 1989. Almost half of that savings is directly attributable to cutbacks in military research and development, modernizing or replacing equipment. The president of the 100,000-member association likened the armed forces situation to a family on a tight budget trying to keep an old car running. "Maintenance costs are increasing dramatically. The right choice is to replace it -- but the dollars available are sufficient only to repair the brakes and put a new exhaust on the old car. Our armed forces have been placed in exactly that same predicament.''
Sullivan sent his letter to as House and Senate conferees are working on the defense appropriations bill. "Now is the time to invest in our space, air, sea and land forces. It is the obligation of Congress to provide for the common defense -- and the responsibility of every American to demand no less.''
Concluding, "national security is society's security -- our armed forces need the funds to modernize, to upgrade selected platforms, to replace aging rolling stock and to undertake research and development to ensure that our military technology and our defenses are superior to those of any potential foe.''
AUSA's Torchbearer campaign was launched in February to foster debate on national security and defense issues. The first three letters covered the impact of declining defense spending on armed forces readiness, military pay and retirement and lessons from the past on readiness.
AUSA officials said the four letters raise issues that need long-term solutions. The association also is releasing two AUSA Torchbearer Campaign Issue reports. The first concerns the Army and is entitled , "The Procurement Holiday -- The Army Dangerously Underresourced,'' and the second concerns the Defense Department and is entitled, "The Procurement Holiday -- The Path to Failure in Preparedness.''
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AUSA Calls for $90 Billion Investment in New Equipment to End 'Death Spiral in Modernizing our Armed Forces'
