Fort Drum— Amidst the fiscal cliff deal, looming talks regarding defense cuts places the DoD in an awkward limbo state.
According to the Navy Times, aside from military personnel, the DoD had 9.4% worth of cuts to make in an 8-month time frame, now the new sequestration deadline is March 1st. The main area where savings are expected to take place is to suspend repairs to military facilities. The Navy Times explored the negative ramifications of these cuts:
“In the past, when base maintenance funds have been tight, the services have resort to deferring maintenance on family housing, even not repairing toilets in on-base housing if a unit has more than one bathroom.”
In the Watertown Daily Times, “Troops' allowed Lodging is cut” addressed a decrease in lodging on Fort Drum. New military families transferring to Fort Drum had 30 days worth of lodging reimbursement until two days ago, where this number was cut to 10 days.
Congressman Bill Owens expressed his concerns regarding how Fort Drum might be impacted by new changes in Washington:
“While I supported the middle class tax relief included in this week’s fiscal cliff agreement, I remain concerned that it did not solve the issue of sequestration, which if implemented could mean tremendous cuts to defense. There are efficiencies and savings available to us that Congress can enact right away to reduce federal spending while protecting critical priorities for the men and women in uniform, including support for critical training installations like Fort Drum.”
