Politics & Government
How Will Defense Department Reductions Impact Marylanders?
See what Aberdeen Proving Ground and Fort Meade had to say about proposed changes.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel previewed the 2015 budget at a press conference Monday where he outlined plans to cut military spending through base closures and realignment, reduction in force and scaling back of benefits and subsidies, among other measures.
The impact may be felt in different ways around Maryland.
Hagel said that he would request an additional round of Base Realignment and Closure initiatives, which he said he has asked for the past two years and Congress has denied. With less funding, he said, the military had to do what it could to reduce its infrastructure. He did not elaborate on which bases he would propose closing.
An Aberdeen Proving Ground spokeswoman said that what that would mean for the Harford County base remains to be seen.
"It is too early to determine what impact proposed downsizing would have on
Aberdeen Proving Ground," Adriane Foss, of Aberdeen Proving Ground's public affairs office, told Patch. "What I can tell you is that as an Army hub of science and technology, Aberdeen Proving Ground will remain committed to providing dedicated service in support of our nation's warfighters."
The base has 21,000 employees and is the largest employer in Harford County, where it is headquartered, according to Aberdeen Proving Ground. It also includes the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, which was recently dispatched to destroy chemical weapons from Syria.
A spokesman for Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County, which employs more than 54,000 people, told The Baltimore Sun that it was too early to speak to the effects of the proposal, but the nature of the work based there—including the National Security Agency (NSA) and Defense Information Systems Agency—put it in a position for growth.
"Fort Meade is clearly the cybercenter of gravity for the Department of Defense, and that mission is going to continue to grow," Chad Jones, spokesman for Fort Meade, told The Baltimore Sun.
In his remarks, Hagel said having a "technological edge" was one of the military's focuses going forward.
On the other hand, reducing military personnel across various agencies was important to reflect the changing times "after Iraq and Afghanistan," Hagel said.
The reduction in force would be as follows:
- Army from 520,000 to between 440,000 and 450,000 (13-percent cut)
- National Guard from 355,000 to 335,000; reserves from 205,000 to 195,000 (5-percent cut)
- Marines from 190,000 to 182,000 (4-percent cut)
Half of the Navy's cruiser ships would be laid up for modernization and the Air Force's fleet of A-10 aircrafts would be retired as part of Hagel's proposal.
Hagel said that housing payments, commissary subsidies and benefits may also be affected in the 2015 budget.
Housing allowances would cover 95 percent rather than 100 percent of housing expenses, according to Hagel's proposal.
Over three years, the $1.4 billion in subsidies to commissaries would be reduced by $1 billion.
Hagel said the plan for benefits would be to "simplify and modernize" the TRICARE insurance plan.
In the military, "total pay and benefits increased 40 percent faster than the private sector between 2001 and 2012," Hagel said, "and while that was the right thing to do at the time, we can’t continue at that rate over the-long term," according to a report from the American Forces Press Service.
"We recognize that no one serving our nation in uniform is overpaid for what they do for our country," Hagel said.
"But if we continue on the current course," he continued, "we will inevitably have to either cut into compensation even more deeply and abruptly, or we will have to deprive our men and women of the training and equipment they need to succeed in battle."
The budget will be submitted in March, U.S. Naval Institute News reported.
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