The impact of a return of sequestration on the services would likely prove to have the biggest effect on special operation forces (SOF), not cuts to its own programs, officials told a House Armed Services panel.
“The reliance on support from the services is where we see the largest impact,” Michael Lumpkin, assistant secretary of Defense For Special Operations & Low-Intensity Conflict.
There is the potential of losing intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) support, modernization of the special operations air fleet, and those cuts would slow modernization efforts on service-common equipment, Lumpkin told the HASC subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities.
SOCOM Commander Army Gen. Joseph Votel said the command is “absolutely dependent” on the services for mission support. And operational effectiveness depends on it.
Sequestration would impact procurement and the recapitalization of air, ground ,and maritime platforms across the services.
SOF is already seeing a lack of resources impact their activities, which Votel characterized as falling in “a gray zone between normal national competition and open conflict,” and offers an opportunity to shape the future environment.
For example, the Navy provided helicopters dedicated to special operations in the past, and that capability is being deactivated, Votel said. “We’ve lost a service-provided capability that we need and no longer are able to rely on.”
By the end of fiscal year 2015 Helicopter Sea Combat Squadrons 84 and 85 will be gone, helping to balance the Navy’s sequestration-squeezed budget. Some of the airframes are already heading to mothballs at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.
SOF does have the Army’s dedicated 160thSpecial Operations Aviation Regiment, the “Nightstalkers,” but the Navy move reduces the medium lift available to the unconventional warriors and reduces the amount of training that can be done.
Sequestration would also likely hit SOF-specific efforts such as improvements to ISR and the communications infrastructure and technologies it depends on to conduct global operations, officials said.
“Ultimately our goal is to match exquisite people with cutting edge capability and the very best ideas to help our nation succeed against the looming challenges we will face in the future,” Votel said.