Military leaders from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard, and the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sent a letter to Congress warning members that drastic spending cuts will reduce the military to "a hollow force" if a debt solution isn’t reached, reported the AP last week.
The letter to Congress stated:
Under current budgetary uncertainty, we are at grave risk of an imposed mismatch between the size of our nation's military force and the funding required to maintain its readiness, which will inevitably lead to a hollow force.
Congress has so far failed to pass a defense budget for 2013, forcing the Pentagon to revert back to last year’s budget.
Should this looming readiness crisis be left unaddressed, we will have to ground aircraft, return ships to port, and stop driving combat vehicles in training. …
To avert this crisis we urge you to take immediate action to provide adequate and stable funding for readiness.
"The condition of our armed forces is swiftly declining. And this is the first red flag on what could be a hazardous road for our national security," Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R., Calif.) said in a statement about the letter.