The Army lacks $1.7 billion needed to refurbish equipment as it returns from Afghanistan because of budget cuts under sequestration, Lt. Gen. Raymond V. Mason, the chief of Army G-4, told lawmakers. The costs of repairing some 800 vehicles, 2,000 weapons, 10,000 pieces of communication gear and 32 helicopters was delayed for a year, Mason told members of the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee during an Oct. 2 hearing on Capitol Hill. "All of that got pushed to 2014, and now here we are in 2014 and not able to do that work again because where we’re at today," Mason said. Sequestration cost the Army 2,000 employees – many of whom have special skills that are difficult if not impossible to replace, Mason told the panel. Another 2,000 skilled workers were lost to layoffs as well, Mason estimated. The cuts are "dramatically impacting our workforce and our ability to get this equipment back into the hands of our soldiers," he said.
