On Wednesday, Congressman Mike Rogers said that proposed budget cuts to the U.S. Army are “unacceptable” given the drawdown of military equipment from the Army to help Ukraine and that the Army missed its recruiting goals by 15,000 last year.
Rogers is the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
“If we’re going to deter China, we need to recruit the best and brightest, Chairman Rogers said during a hearing on the Department of the Army Fiscal Year 2024 budget request. “We need to provide them the training, skills, and capabilities necessary to succeed on future battlefields. And we need to improve their quality of life to ensure we retain them in today’s competitive employment market.”
“The Army is seeking $185.5 billion in fiscal year 2024,” Rogers said. “That amounts to an increase of less than two-tenths of one percent. Given today’s record rate of inflation, the President’s budget effectively cuts the Army by over 5 percent.”
“The President’s budget cuts Army procurement, slashing combat vehicle acquisition by 16 percent and new aircraft by 22 percent,” Rogers continued. “It cuts overall Army research and development by 8 percent. That includes a whopping 42 percent reduction in early-stage research and development projects that are critical to Army modernization efforts. Finally, it guts military construction by 32 percent. Most disturbingly, That includes a 26 percent cut to family housing. It’s clear the Army is yet again the bill payer for the Pentagon.”
“This will be especially hard deal with in the near term as the Army is the lead supplier of drawdown assistance to Ukraine,” Rogers said. “Making matters worse is the fact that the Army is struggling with a historic recruiting crisis. The Army missed their recruiting goal by over 15,000 soldiers last year. All the signs point to the Service being unable to meet their recruiting goals again this year. That’s unacceptable.”
Rogers isn’t the only member of Congress concerned about the Army’s plans.
Congressman Rob Whitman said in a hearing on military rotary aviation, “I remain concerned with the Army’s trepidation in choosing a path forward for the CH-47F Chinook and their lack of any real plan to keep the AH-64E Apache modernized. These platforms will be flying for the next few decades, so it is imperative that our heavy lift and attack fleets are modernized to remain relevant. With the Chinook and the Apache making up the lion’s share of the work at 2 of the nation’s four major rotorcraft sites, I am growing increasingly concerned about the future health of our rotorcraft industrial base. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today on how they plan to steer us away from this incoming cliff.”
Congressman Michael Waltz said during a hearing on military readiness, “Taking care of our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen, and Guardians is the utmost responsibility of all of us here in this room. Service leadership continuously touts “people first,” but I remain skeptical of this being put into practice when I look at the status of our barracks and housing. The condition of some of this housing is astounding. It no doubt affects retention. We must provide safe barracks and housing that puts our servicemembers’ welfare first.”
Congressman Mike Roger is in his 11th term representing Alabama’s Third Congressional District.
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