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OPINION
June 23, 2013, 7:12 p.m. ET
The budget sequester has idled U.S.
military aircraft and crews across the country, with dangerous
implications.
There has
been much talk lately in Washington about establishing a no-fly zone in Syria.
You don't hear about the no-fly zones that are already up and running—over the
United States. Where in the U.S.? Over places like Nellis Air Force Base in
Nevada, the Air Force's premier combat training range; and over Naval Air
Stations Oceana in Virginia and China Lake in California, affecting Navy and
Marine Corps aviation. Then there are the no-fly zones over Seymour Johnson AFB
Goldsboro, N.C., the home of an F-15E fighter wing; Hill AFB in Ogden, Utah,
home to F-16 fighters; and Ellsworth AFB, S.D., the home of B-1 bombers that
provide America global reach and power.
Those and
others are no-fly zones because Congress has legislated, through budget
sequestration, the shutdown of major air capabilities of the U.S. Air Force,
Navy and Marine Corps. Military spending is scheduled to be cut by $492 billion
over 10 years, with $52 billion in mandatory, across-the-board reductions coming
next year.
The fourth U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning
II aircraft arrives at the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis Air
Force Base, Nevada in this April 24, 2013 photo released on May 8,
2013.
But the
$42 billion axed from the military in 2013 is already damaging America's combat
readiness—and therefore its security. Our military readiness is plummeting,
especially the nation's air power, which underpins the entire military's ability
to operate when and where necessary. In the Air Force alone, more than 30
squadrons are now grounded, along with aircrews, and maintenance and training
personnel. The U.S. military's foremost air-combat training exercise—Red
Flag—has been canceled for the rest of the year. The graduate schools for Air
Force, Navy and Marine combat aviators have been canceled. Equipment testing and
upgrades to F-22s, F-15s, F-16s and other aircraft have been
delayed.
Without
testing, improvements can't be made, and without upgrades air forces atrophy and
their capability declines. Training, testing and education are vital to keeping
forces honed to a combat edge. The excellence and high standard of those
activities have enabled the U.S. to remain the world's sole
superpower.
Flying
and maintaining proficiency in high-performance military aircraft is not like
riding a bike. It requires constant preparation and training to maintain the
superior combat capabilities that have long been the pride of the U.S. As
foreign military equipment and technology around the world approached America's
own weapons capabilities, superior air-combat training gave the U.S. an
advantage. With large numbers of U.S. airmen around the world not flying, that
is no longer the case.
The real
danger is that the damage caused by the no-fly zones imposed by sequestration
will not be recognized until too late—until air forces and personnel are
required to support America's vital security interests in times and places
unforeseen and impossible to predict.
The U.S.
Air Force has always focused on being 100% ready at all times. That's the goal.
Why? Because being in a posture to deploy and employ quickly creates
capabilities to engage around the world to encourage peace and stability. If
necessary, that posture provides the foundation for success in war-fighting.
Sequestration's no-fly zones result in a disproportionate loss of national
capability because they hinder the Air Force's role as America's "first response
force." This quickness buys the Navy and Army time to spin up and steam to the
fight.
The
hollow force caused by sequestration means that the U.S. has a growing
strategy-resource mismatch: a widening gap between what our leaders say and what
the nation can accomplish. Sequestration was designed to be so irresponsible
that Congress would prevent its implementation. Now that it has been
implemented, the danger is that Washington begins to think the military cuts are
tolerable.
With the
consequences of the cuts not immediately apparent, Congress might regard them as
a more palatable way to cut military spending than the politically unpopular
Base Realignment and Closure Act. Earlier this month, the House of
Representative approved legislation to prohibit another round of BRAC, even
though it could be used to cut the military's excess infrastructure and achieve
significant savings. The ban appears likely to become law. Combat readiness
doesn't have a constituency—except for the entire nation, when fighting needs to
be accomplished.
Ultimately, the staggering challenge of
the national debt will have to be addressed in a more responsible way than by a
sequester. When that time comes, a discussion of first principles is essential.
Who is to determine what is the appropriate "fair share" of each of the elements
of government? How do we determine priorities?
Plenty of
opinions will be offered, but America's leaders would do well to seek guidance
from the document describing the reason for the government's existence—the
Preamble to the Constitution. The Founders wrote that the nation was constituted
to "provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."
Providing
for the common defense is U.S. government job one. On the ample evidence of the
past year—the deficit debates, the potential solutions offered to resolve the
fiscal crisis, the damage done to America's security by sequestration—too many
people in leadership positions have forgotten that obligation.
Mr. Deptula, a retired Air Force
three-star general, was a commander of the no-fly zone over northern Iraq in
1998-99. He is a senior military scholar at the Air Force
Academy.
A version of this article appeared June
24, 2013, on page A19 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the
headline: America's No-Fly Zones Are Already in Place.
