New Defense Strategy is an Opportunity Despite Looming Sequestration

Having a new defense strategy post Iraq war and as the United States starts withdrawing from Afghanistan is “a real plus,” regardless of how one views the strategy, said retired Gen. Ron Fogelman, former Air Force Chief of Staff, last week. However, with more severe defense spending cuts creeping closer under the Budget Control Act’s sequestration mechanism, defense leaders need to take a hard look at what they want out of the future force and how they plan to train, equip, and fund it, said Fogleman during an April 11 panel discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Global Security Forum 2012 in Washington, D.C. Fogleman said it’d be unwise to pretend that some form of sequestration won’t kick in next year. Sequestration could strip hundreds of billions of dollars more from the defense budget through 2021. Another roles and missions scrub is probably a bad idea, noted Fogleman, but the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff should be asking what it takes to support the strategy. (CSIS event webpage)