Dwelling

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Marines this morning that he believes units will reach a two-to-one or three-to-one dwell ratio in the next few years, despite the Marine Corps' intent to cut back on end strength, but some low-density high-demand specialties likely will continue to experience low dwell time.

At a town hall meeting in Camp Lejeune, NC, Gates said he expects the decline in the number of troops to balance out with the drawdown in Afghanistan. “The goal is to get to one-to-two, so for every, let's say, every six months deployed, you get at least a year at home,” he told Marines. “I think as we draw down in Afghanistan over the next three years, the dwell will probably increase beyond that.”

However, he said there was “no question in [his] mind” that some specialties would not reach that goal. Specifically, he named military police, intelligence analysts, ordinance disposal personnel and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance experts. "We just don't have enough of those specialties to fill the requirement,” he said, “so we're still having to deal with a fair amount of individual augmentees.”

Gates said he hopes that before he steps down from his position, he can “tee up” some of the difficult budgetary decisions the Defense Department will have to make. He said he fears cuts that would maintain today's force structure without providing the proper manpower and training to sustain it. “Across-the-board cuts, as far as I'm concerned, represent managerial cowardice,” he said.

Instead, he pledged to focus on “third-rail issues” like compensation for working-age retirees and Tricare premiums, as well as forcing commanders to accept some force-structure risk. For example, he questioned the likelihood that the United States could someday simultaneously be at war in two regions against enemies like Iran and North Korea.

“If you want to change the size of the budget in a dramatic way, what risk are you prepared to take in terms of future threats to the country?” he asked.

Gates noted that the budget cuts may not proceed in a logical and sensible manner as politics impacts the process. As an example, he pointed to the continuing resolutions on the fiscal year 2011 budget that Congress renewed multiple times earlier this year before passing an appropriations bill last month. “[They] were incredibly irrational and caused us to do incredibly stupid things,” he said.