Report: Reserves ordered to slash budgets

Report: Reserves ordered to slash budgets
By Erik Holmes - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jun 2, 2008 18:09:06 EDT

The Air Force is considering “dramatic and disproportionate cuts” to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve budgets for fiscal 2010, according to a report from a Washington think tank.

Defense analysts Mackenzie Eaglen and Samuel Mahaney of the Heritage Foundation say in a report released Monday that the Air Force, facing budgetary pressures from the White House and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, is directing the Air National Guard to cuts its budget by one-eighth, or 12.5 percent, in 2010. The report does not specify the cuts faced by the Reserves.

“This type of budget cut would be disastrous for Air Force Guard and Reserve forces,” the report says. “Specifically, a cut of this magnitude would emaciate the Air National Guard and its domestic homeland defense responsibilities, such as the air sovereignty alert mission.”

The defense analysts argue that the Guard and Reserve offer the Air Force the most bang for its buck and “should be bolstered, not reduced.”

They point out that the Guard and Reserve in 2008 will account for 14 percent of the Air Force’s appropriated personnel expenditures and 21 percent of operations and maintenance expenditures, but will perform 54 percent of the missions.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/06/airforce_guard_reserve_budget_060208w/