While the inclination to breathe a collective sigh of relief as the 16-day shutdown of the federal government ended is understandable, Army Secretary John McHugh warned an Oct. 21 audience of Army professionals that the climate of painful cuts will continue. “I wish I could promise you that better days were ahead, but I can’t,” McHugh said, during a speech at the Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C. Sequestration alone cost the service $1.7 billion in is first year, and very likely would impinge upon training, readiness, and development of new programs to replace aging Humvees, Bradley ground combat vehicles, and H-60 Black Hawk helicopters, Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno told the audience, echoing his civilian boss’s sentiments.
