WASHINGTON
America’s defense chiefs made the case for a smaller, more nimble, American military before a skeptical U.S. Congress.
"As we end our second war of the last decade, our longest ever, this budget adapts and adjusts to new strategic realities and fiscal constraints while preparing for the future,” said U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel Wednesday while speaking to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
His comments come amid continued pressure to slash U.S. government budgets across the board in order to develop a more balanced budget. The U.S. Department of Defense has experienced three years of budget cuts, reducing its total from $553 billion to $496 billion over that period.
Hagel’s proposed 2015 budget called for the U.S. Army to be reduced in size to pre-World War II levels, about 440,000 soldiers, and scraps decades-old weapons systems including the A-10 Warthog anti-tank aircraft. It does, however, increase spending on cyber and special operations.
America’s top general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, added, "If we don't move toward a sounder way to steward our nation's defenses, we do face unbalanced cuts to readiness and modernization."
Senate leaders lashed out at reductions to military spending, which they said would endanger American lives, and put America’s military advantage at risk.
"We're talking about American casualties, deaths; that's how risk fits into this," said Republican Senator Jim Inhofe, the committee’s ranking member.
"[The] sort of presumption of the United States that we are technologically superior, militarily -- I don't think that's a safe assumption anymore."
Recent tensions in Ukraine have reinforced skepticism about further slashing the American military’s budget.
"The recent events across the Middle East, Africa and most recently Ukraine have brought into sharp focus the reality that President Obama seems unwilling to accept: that the tide of war is not receding," said Inhofe.
Still, America’s top defense officials said that the president’s budget prepares America’s forces to more adeptly meet future challenges, including those in Ukraine, while adapting to budget constraints.
"The events of the past week underscore the need for America's continued global engagement and leadership. The president's defense budget reflects that reality and it helps sustain our commitments and our leadership at a very defining moment," retorted Hagel.
He added that the Pentagon is working to support its allies "including stepping up joint training through our aviation detachment in Poland [...] and augmenting our participation in NATO's air policing mission on the Baltic Peninsula."
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