Grocery Stores On Army Bases In The U.S. Are Closed. The Golf Course At Andrews Air Force Base Is Open

Photo from Hotdogger Blog

WNU Editor: From Bloomberg .... troops forage for food while golfers play on in shutdown .... hmmm .... let's see who plays regularly at Andrews Air Force Base golf course (go here).

This is not leadership.

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The U.S. Military And Intelligence Community Is Slowly Grinding To A Halt As The Government Shut Down Takes Hold

The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, taken from an airplane in January 2008. Wikipedia

Exclusive: Air Force Grounds Fighter Jets as Shutdown Takes Hold -- Foreign Policy

Entire fighter squadrons are grounded. The Defense Department's Middle East specialists are barred from the Pentagon. Thousands of the Intelligence Community's top geeks are at home playing Minecraft. The shutdown of the United States government is starting to have very real impacts on the American defense and intelligence infrastructure. Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper even calls it a "dream scenario" for other countries to recruit spies who ordinarily work for the federal government -- when that government is actually open. There's even a poor Air Force reservist who has been deemed "nonessential" at all three jobs he holds.

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My Comment: A good summary of what is happening in the U.S. intelligence and defense community as the government shut down takes hold.

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Pentagon Working To Bring Furloughed Defense Department Civilians Globally Back To Work

Hagel Seeks To Bring Furloughed Defense Department Civilians Back To Work -- CNN

Even as furloughed civilian Defense Department workers streamed out of the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel began working half a world away to get all 400,000 furloughed personnel globally back to work.

“Hagel is looking to get as many people back to work as soon as he can,” a senior defense official told CNN on Tuesday.

Hagel, who is traveling in Asia, hinted to reporters about what exactly he has in mind and it centers around a law quickly passed on Monday to keep troops and some essential civilian workers paid.

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More News On The Pentagon Working To Bring Furloughed Defense Department Civilians Globally Back To Work

Hagel: Pentagon lawyers hoping to minimize how many Defense workers are furloughed -- Washington Post
Chuck Hagel: Pentagon Wants More Workers Exempt From Furloughs -- Huffington Post/AP
Hagel Promises Exempt Military and Civilian Employees Will Get Paid on Time -- Pacific News Center
GOP Says DoD Doesn't Have to Furlough Civilian Workers -- Defense One
Congressman Urges Hagel to Bring Back Furloughed DOD Workers -- ABC News

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The Impact Of The U.S. Government Shutdown On The U.S. Military

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel briefs reporters in Seoul, South Korea, Oct. 1, 2013. Hagel answered questions regarding the government shutdown and how the Defense Department would structure through the furlough. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

Hagel Says National Security Assured During Shutdown -- US Department of Defense

SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 1, 2013 – The Defense Department and other government agencies responsible for national security will carry out their missions despite the government shutdown, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said here today.

The secretary, traveling in the Asia-Pacific this week for high-level meetings here and in Japan, sat down with reporters traveling with him to explain what is known, and what isn’t, as nonessential government services are temporarily mothballed.

The secretary said he left last night’s state dinner honoring the U.S.-South Korea alliance, at which he spoke, “a little early” for a teleconference with Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter, comptroller Bob Hale and acting general counsel Robert Taylor. During that conversation, he said, the four discussed possibilities for minimizing the shutdown’s effects on some 400,000 civilian employees who will be furloughed.

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More News On The Impact Of The U.S. Government Shutdown On The U.S. Military

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's Sept. 30 message to DOD personnel -- Stars and Stripes
Hagel says national security assured during shutdown -- U.S. Air Force
Shutdown to Freeze DoD Contracting -- DoD Buzz
Shutdown Hits Navy Shipyards Hard -- DoD Buzz
US shutdown: Bad for Pentagon workers, not so much for defense firms -- CNBC
Pentagon chief says shutdown hurts U.S. credibility with allies -- Reuters
US shutdown 'hurts military credibility with allies' -- FOX News/AFP
Dept. Of Defense Cancels All Athletic Events Due To Shutdown -- CBS
Defense dept.: Service academy sports temporarily suspended because of government shutdown -- Washington Post
Disgust Spreads Across DoD in Shutdown's First Day -- Military.com

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The Rush To Award Defense Contracts Before The U.S. Government Shutdowns

The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, taken from an airplane in January 2008. Wikipedia

Pentagon Spent $5 Billion On Weapons On The Eve Of The Shutdown -- Killer Apps/Foreign Policy

The Pentagon pumped billions of dollars into contractors' bank accounts on the eve of the U.S. government's shutdown that saw 400,000 Defense Department employees furloughed.

All told, the Pentagon awarded 94 contracts yesterday evening on its annual end-of-the-fiscal-year spending spree, spending more than five billion dollars on everything from robot submarines to Finnish hand grenades and a radar base mounted on an offshore oil platform. To put things in perspective, the Pentagon gave out only 14 contracts on September 3, the first workday of the month.

Here are some of the more interesting purchases from Monday's dollar-dump.

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My Comment: Why does this not surprise me .... rushing to award billions in contracts before the government shuts down. But this rush to award contracts reveals to me that there is a lot of confusion within the Pentagon on what to contract during this government shutdown. On the one .... there are some who are reporting that all DoD contracts will be frozen .... others are saying that defense contracts will still be awarded, but they will not be announced in order to conform to the government shutdown. But as confusing as this is .... there is one situation that is making all of America's defense contractors really upset .... and (not surprisingly) it is this one.

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What The Gov't Shutdown Means For National Security (Video)

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Active Duty Military Soldiers Will Still Receive Their Pay As The U.S. Government Shuts Down

Obama Signs Bill Guaranteeing Active Duty Military Pay In Event Of Shutdown -- FOX News

Senate Democrats are vowing to reject House Republicans' last-minute bid to delay ObamaCare by attaching new amendments to a must-pass spending bill.

But the Senate has accepted one Republican idea -- a bill that would pay the military in the event of a shutdown. The Senate easily approved the bill late Monday afternoon and President Obama signed it into law a few hours later, as the government careened toward a shutdown.

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More News On Active Duty Military Pay Being Unaffected As The U.S. Government Shuts Down

Congress Passes Shutdown Exemption For Military Pay -- Defense News
Senate Clears Bill to Pay Military in Shutdown -- Time/AP
Senate Passes Bill to Pay Military in Shutdown -- Military.com
Senate clears bill to pay military in case of shutdown -- Washington Post
Congress can agree on one thing: military will be paid if government shuts down -- CNN

My Comment: The last thing that you want is some soldier in some FOB in Afghanistan wondering if his wife back home will get his pay so that she could then pay the rent.

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President Obama Releases A Message To The Military As The Government Shutdown Begins

Obama Releases Message to Military As Shutdown Begins -- Time

President Barack Obama released a video message early Tuesday morning thanking American servicemembers and Defense Department personnel for their service as most of the federal government shutdown began.

The message, taped hours before the shutdown, features the president addressing the impacts of the shutdown on the Defense Department. Active duty military will continue to serve—and will get paid, thanks to a last-minute measure passed by Congress Monday and signed by the president less than two hours before the government shutdown. Many DOD civilians will be furloughed, while others deemed essential will be required to work without pay.

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The Pentagon Is Getting Ready For More Budget Cuts

Many Defense Department employees would face furloughs if the government shuts down Sept. 30, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a memo. (Tech. Sgt. Andy Dunaway / Air Force)

Pentagon Warns Against Government Shutdown, But Study Says It Can Live On Less -- Anna Mulrine, Christian Science Monitor

Even as Pentagon officials warn lawmakers of the dire effects of a government shutdown, a panel that includes former members of the Joint Chiefs says staffing cuts can safely be made.

The Pentagon has begun preparing for a potential government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

But even as it warns of the dire consequences of a lapse in full funding for the US military, a new study by a panel that includes four former flag officers on the Joint Chiefs of Staff concludes that that the Pentagon could cut 50,000 civilian employees – as well as 60,000 US troops – without damaging US national security.

“The Defense Department is not a jobs program,” Barry Blechman, an author of the report by the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan global security think tank, said at a press conference Tuesday releasing the report.

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More News On The U.S. Defense Budget

Think-tank report targets benefits, force structure to hold down spending -- Military Times
Study: Pentagon Could Cut 100,000-Plus Troops, Maintain Fighting Power -- Slate
Study: Pentagon Could Cuts Thousands of Employees -- ABC News/AP
Defense Panel Recommends BRAC, Benefit Changes -- Military.com
Stimson Panel Proposes $50B in Pentagon Cuts As Sequestration Alternative -- Executive Gov
Defense Advisers: Overhead Costs Sinking the Military -- National Defense
Pentagon Bracing for US Government Shutdown -- Defense News
Pentagon Prepares for Government Shutdown -- Defense One
Service Chiefs Warn of Sequester's 'Insidious' Effects -- Defense News
Budget uncertainty crippling military, Pentagon officials say -- Reuters
Military chiefs warn forced budget cuts undermine security -- CNN
Army speeds up plans for reducing size of active force; aviation programs hit in 2014 -- al.com
Rich Military, Poor Results: Joint Chiefs say budget crunch could thwart victory -- Mark Thompson, Time

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Will The U.S. Military No Longer Be Able To Fight And Win A Major War If Sequestration Continues?

US Military Could Not Handle One Major Theater Operation If Sequester Sticks -- Colin Clark, Breaking Defense

CAPITOL HILL: Even the cameras stopped clicking in a hushed Armed Services hearing room today as Rep. Jim Cooper told the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his colleagues on the biggest committee in Congress today that America’s lawmakers had failed the country.

“You gentlemen make life and death decisions in the Tank almost every day,” a somber Cooper said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, looking straight at Army Gen. Ray Odierno, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh and Marine Gen. James Amos. “We are unwilling to even come up with a budget for America.”

Even the usually partisan HASC Chairman Buck McKeon, after offering a very short defense of the House and GOP’s actions on sequestration, spoke the truth to the Joint Chiefs and the packed hearing room: ”It’s not your fault. It is us.”

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Update #1: Exclusive Interview: Pentagon Comptroller Bob Hale Braces for Sequestration, Round 2 -- Defense One
Update #2: The battles over a drawdown at the Pentagon may have begun, but senior leadership is still prioritizing politics over hard budget realities. -- Gordon Adams, National Security/Foreign Policy

My Comment: The Pentagon gets hundreds of billions of dollars each year .... if they cannot fight and win a major war with such a budget .... something is then terribly wrong.

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