In connection with the planned end of the war in Afghanistan, the complete withdrawal of American troops from its territory and the need to remove weapons and military equipment from the battlefields, a hearing was held on the tasks before them. As the chairman of the subcommittee, Robert Whitman, said opening the hearings, the reduction in appropriations does not allow the armed forces to purchase new equipment and weapons in the required volume to replace those worn out in the course of hostilities and to carry out the restoration and modernization of weapons that have not yet expired in the required volume.
Currently, thousands of containers, hundreds of military equipment and millions of small arms and military equipment are awaiting shipment to America. The $ 12.2 billion allocated for these purposes, including putting in order and replacing damaged weapons, as the chairman said, is clearly not enough to solve the problem of equipping troops with the necessary means that meet modern requirements. He also expressed concern that continued cuts in the military budget could significantly complicate the repair of weapons in service. Due to the fact that the main part of the hostilities in Afghanistan is conducted by ground forces and the Marine Corps, the parliamentarians listened to the views of the generals responsible for combat readiness in the military contingents subordinate to them and equipping them with modern weapons.
PROSPECTS AND WISHES OF KMP
The first to speak at the hearing was Lieutenant General William Faulkner, Deputy Commander for Combat Readiness of the Marine Corps (IOC). According to the general, at present, the marines, together with allies and partners, are carrying out all the necessary measures to transfer responsibility for ensuring the national security of Afghanistan to his armed forces and other law enforcement agencies. The expeditionary force of the ILC consists of highly mobile units, the material support of which does not depend on the government of Kabul, but is carried out directly from the United States. However, at the present stage, the combat readiness of the military contingents of the ILC is fully determined by the scale of the reduction in appropriations provided for by the sequestration, and the corps command was forced to close funding for measures to ensure the solution of long-term tasks of developing forces and resources and spend the allocated funds only to meet the current needs of the troops.
Faulkner explained to lawmakers that during the Afghan war, which is taking place in extremely difficult climatic conditions leading to rapid wear and tear of weapons and military equipment, it was extremely necessary for the ILC to develop a strategy for the restoration of ground equipment and to ensure the equipment of the ILC troops with all types of weapons and military equipment, to further increase their combat readiness and ability to we demand the level to carry out all combat operations in full.
In order for the combat readiness of the military contingents of the ILC not to decrease, it is necessary, as the general said, to allocate all the required appropriations for measures to return weapons and military equipment to military bases in the United States within three years after the last Marine leaves Afghanistan.
As Faulkner noted, during 2012 the command of the ILC reduced the number of its troops in Afghanistan and sent about 39 thousand units of military equipment to America. At present, there is a further export of IKM weapons and military equipment from this country, as well as the curtailment of military bases and weapons depots. After the withdrawal of military units from Afghanistan began in 2011, 72 thousand weapons were sent to the United States. The territory of the flight zone of the US aviation over the controlled territories of the country has decreased by more than 35 times. Currently, about 60 thousand weapons and military equipment sent to the American continent are being repaired and modernized at three Pentagon plants in the state of California.
The general stressed that future cuts in the military budget will undoubtedly have a negative impact on the implementation of the strategy for re-equipping the ILC and ensuring the required level of combat readiness of its forces and assets. In the 2013 financial year, the ILC allocated the necessary funds to carry out various activities for the repair and restoration of military equipment. However, these processes were suspended due to the dispatch of specialists from repair plants and workshops on a six-day unpaid leave. He also noted that from year to year there is a decrease in the number of activities for the maintenance of weapons and military equipment. However, from year to year there is a growing need to increase the number and timing of such events. However, due to insufficient finances, they cannot be fully implemented, and this leads to a further decrease in the operational readiness of weapons and military equipment. If this trend continues in the future, Faulkner announced, it will have an extremely negative impact on the combat readiness of the ILC military units.
According to Faulkner, in modern conditions, maintaining combat readiness at the required level can be carried out only by withdrawing funds allocated for reforming the ILC troops and ensuring a decent standard of living for military personnel and civilian personnel. To maintain the required level of combat readiness of military equipment of the ILC, today only 10% of the appropriations allocated to it are spent. In fiscal 2014, it is planned to allocate only $ 2.67 billion for these purposes, which is significantly less than the funds that other branches of the armed forces should receive for similar purposes. Therefore, there is a very high probability that the operational readiness of the IKM weapons and military equipment will significantly decrease.
In conclusion, General Faulkner said that the required level of combat readiness of the ILC military contingents can only be ensured by maintaining the necessary balance of highly professional specialists, well-trained combat-ready units, modernized equipment, well-equipped military facilities and the required number of troops necessary to solve numerous combat missions in modern stage and in perspective. And for this, sufficient funds must be allocated and effective support of legislators is needed, which must once again consider the requirements of the sequestration and in a certain way amend them so that the troops of the ILC are able to remain in combat readiness.
THE FUTURE OF LAND FORCES
The position of the US Ground Forces (Ground Forces) on the issue of sequestration and the ability to maintain the required level of combat readiness of the troops was presented to parliamentarians by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces, Lieutenant General Raymond Mason. As the general emphasized, the US Army has been continuously fighting for more than 10 years. And it is currently in a transitional period. This turning point in the construction of ground forces is characterized by significant financial constraints with a significant increase in military threats to US national security and a high level of their uncertainty.
Mason said that the sequestration in the 2013 fiscal year, the army faced great difficulties. In this year's budget, the main allocations of the Ground Forces were significantly cut and the likelihood of a further and prolonged reduction in allocations for the construction of the Ground Forces remained high. According to the general, if the established sequestration limits are not changed, then 85% of the army's units may completely lose their combat readiness.
The Army leadership believes that it is in a position to withdraw troops and equipment from Afghanistan, as well as to close or repurpose military bases that are no longer needed due to the planned end of hostilities in this country by the end of 2014. The deputy chief of staff noted that the leadership of the army developed general approaches to carrying out measures to return weapons and military equipment from Afghanistan to the United States, and also provided the necessary powers to certain administrative authorities of the Army for the implementation of this process. Until now, the export of military equipment from Afghanistan was carried out periodically and was determined by the need for military operations and the training of Afghan troops. The full dispatch of military equipment to the United States is scheduled for December 2014.
The export of military equipment is planned to be carried out along the Afghan and Pakistani railways and highways, as well as through the Russian Federation and some other countries of the former USSR. Some of the military equipment will be transported by air.
Currently, there are ground forces in Afghanistan, the total cost of which is about $ 17 billion. The return of this weapons and military equipment to the mainland of the United States in combination with its repair and modernization, as well as taking into account the funds at the disposal of army units stationed in America, will allow bringing the required level of combat-ready weapons up to 92%.
According to the general, the financing of the export of military equipment and military equipment from Afghanistan should be carried out all the time during which the ground forces will remain in this country, and can be completed only three years after the last unit of weapons and military equipment leaves its borders. As Mason explained to lawmakers, the transfer of military assets includes a set of measures aimed at restoring their combat capabilities to the level necessary for the troops they equip to solve the modern and future combat missions they face.
Allocations for the redeployment of weapons and military equipment from theaters located outside the United States are fully allocated under the heading "Military operations abroad." The funds received under this article are used to implement the program for the re-equipment of the combat units of the troops. In accordance with this program, damaged weapons and military equipment are replaced with new ones, and equipment that has worn out to a certain extent as a result of operation in difficult combat conditions or has received minor damage is repaired and returned to the troops in full readiness for use.
NON-COMBAT LOSSES OF THE AMERICAN ARMY
According to SV experts, in the 2013 financial year, the army was supposed to repair about 100 thousand units of weapons and military equipment that arrived from Afghanistan at its repair plants and in private firms. 600 thousand samples of military equipment were to be brought into serviceability in the places of their basing and storage. However, the sequestration level this year forced the army command to postpone all planned measures to restore military equipment for future years, which negatively affected the combat readiness of the ground forces. Since the opening of the program for the re-equipment of the Ground Forces, subject to the full financing of the measures prescribed in it, the army has been able to maintain the operational readiness of ground assets and aviation systems in the theater of operations at 90 and 75%, respectively. In connection with the sequestration, the Ministry of the Army had to postpone the work planned for the 2013 fiscal year on the repair and restoration of tactical wheeled vehicles, communications equipment and some other weapons.
The general also noted that financial uncertainty significantly threatens the ability to maintain at the required level the production base of the Ground Forces, which includes repair shops, supply depots for troops and storage of military property, enterprises for the production of ammunition and artillery weapons, as well as a number of other facilities. necessary to maintain weapons and military equipment at the required level of operational readiness.
In 2013, in connection with the sequestration, the production base of the army lost more than 4 thousand qualified specialists, including 2, 6 thousand employees. This caused significant damage to the ability of the ground forces to provide combat units with serviceable military equipment.
In conclusion, the general appealed to the members of the subcommittee with a request to revise the sequestration norms for reducing the allocations of the ground forces and maintain the required level of funding for the return of weapons from Afghanistan to the United States for another three years, until the last sample of weapons and military equipment is removed from this country.
