AUSA On Sequestration

The head of the Association of the United States Army is calling on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to end sequestration.

In a letter sent to Reid today, retired Army Gen. Gordon Sullivan writes:

Is this too hard? I cannot speak for 300 million Americans, but I will speak for myself. I have been in or around the U.S. Army for almost 60 years, and I am very concerned that our enemies, potential and current, don't see us as a rock-steady nation. They think we cannot act in a collaborative, efficient manner. Some of our closest friends are left scratching their heads wondering what is going on in America that makes us seem so indecisive and weak.

Those who know us best can see that we have lost our edge. Our forces are less ready, and we are taking apart a magnificent, combat-honed force based on a great American myth that when we need defense we can just create it. Let me be clear, it is a myth. A lesson we should have learned by now is that the cost of being unprepared is paid in lives and spilled blood.

Hope is the anchor of our souls, but success requires creating a vision and making it happen so our nation believes it and our allies and friends perceive us as serious and our enemies know we have placed ourselves where we belong, on center stage.

We don't have a year to fix what ails our national defense. We must stop sequestration now. We must cease downsizing now. We must rely on the elected, appointed and uniformed leaders of this nation to structure forces capable of ensuring our security. We have precious little time to show the world how good we are.