Sequester Has Air Force Clipping Its Wings
The Pentagon says the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration could leave the U.S. with a military that is simply unprepared for the most challenging combat missions. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told Congress in April that the military is eating its seed corn.
"The cuts will fall heavily on maintenance and training, which further erodes the readiness of the force and will be costly to regain in the future," he said. "As the service chiefs have said, we are consuming our readiness."
The Air Force says it's in a special bind. Cuts in flying hours mean that pilots can't do the thing they need to practice most: flying.
Out Of Practice
At Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, training flights are part of the daily routine. F-15 fighter jets roll down the flight line and launch into a cloudy sky.
The base is home to the Air Combat Command's Fourth Fighter Wing, which is made up of four squadrons of fighters. They practice and practice so they can be ready to deploy anywhere in the world, at any time.
But the skies are a little quieter now because the leadership has been told to save money.