Army Secretary Makes Case for Funding

Army Secretary John McHugh urged a panel on Capitol Hill March 25 to approve the service’s funding request for fiscal year 2015, which begins Oct. 1 and continues through Sept. 30, 2015. Failure to do so could jeopardize the Army’s ability to field the world’s finest land force, McHugh told members of the House Armed Services Committee. Recent budget cuts, paired with the effects of sequestration, already have curtailed modernization efforts and diminished strength, McHugh said. “These, coupled with a significant shortfall in 2013 [overseas contingency operations] funding, has caused your Army to enter this year with a $3.2-billion hole in readiness alone,” McHugh told the panel.