The Readiness Avalanche

摘要

Thus far, budget sequestration has not affected the day-to-day readiness of the units operating the nation's nuclear triad or executing other critical US Strategic Command activities in space and cyberspace, said STRATCOM Commander Gen. C. Robert Kehler in July. That's because the services have given "preferential treatment" to supporting those missions. However, the services will not be able to sustain this practice if sequester lingers long-term, leaving the specter of a readiness crisis on the horizon, he said. "I am worried about readiness. It is like watching an avalanche where you see it start small and if you continue to ignore readiness accounts, the momentum builds and eventually you have a big readiness avalanche," he said. The human dimension of this, such as the furlough of Defense Department civilian personnel due to the sequester, "has gotten lost" in the budget debates, he added.