The Army has moved $800 million from its operations and military personnel accounts so far this fiscal year to support the surge of European and Central Command requirements that would otherwise be covered by the pending supplemental, with the service’s no. 2 civilian leader on Wednesday citing passage of the foreign aid bill as “absolutely crucial.”
“The need to pass the supplemental is absolutely crucial [and] not just because we’re supporting Ukraine, and it’s absolutely vital that we support Ukraine in this conflict against Russia. Not passing the supplemental would have devastating effects to the United States Army,” Gabe Camarillo, the service’s under secretary, said during an Association of the United States Army discussion.
Following his remarks, Camarillo told reporters that having to continue pulling from base operations and maintenance (O&M) and military personnel accounts to fund additional EUCOM and CENTCOM requirements could reduce the scope of planned exercises in the Europe and Pacific, delay restoration and modernization projects for Army installations and infrastructure and disrupt planned activities across Army units.
“The longer we go without a supplemental to reimburse us, it’s going to pull O&M funds from other needs during the course of the year that we’re living in right now,” Camarillo told reporters. “Many of those effects won’t be immediately discernible. They’ll probably start to show up over the course of the next year afterwards when you begin to see the carryover effect of that lack of investment.”
Maj. Gen. Mark Bennett, director of Army budget, told Defense Daily on Wednesday that “difficult” choices for the Army related to the impacts of the $800 million cash pull from those accounts are “fast approaching.”
The Senate in February passed its $95.3 billion supplemental bill, which includes tens of billions of dollars to continue supporting Ukraine as Israel and Taiwan, while Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has yet to bring the bill up for consideration on the House floor (Defense Daily, Feb. 13).
The bill, which aligns with priorities the Biden administration first detailed last August, includes $14.8 billion to continue DoD efforts to support Ukraine with military training and intelligence sharing as well as and $2.4 billion to support “U.S. operations in the U.S. Central Command area of operations and to replace combat expenditures for weapons in the Red Sea.”
In response to a question from Defense Daily on his outlook regarding the prospects of the foreign aid bill once Congress returns from recess next week, Camarillo said he was “optimistic” there will be the same bipartisan support for this supplemental that the previous measures received.
“You’re asking me to predict how Congress will work. I think if I could do that confidently, I would be a very successful prognosticator,” Camarillo said. “I will say this, I believe that we have enjoyed bipartisan, strong support for the United States Army and what we’re doing to support Ukraine. I remain optimistic and confident that that will continue. We have to have this supplemental, though. It is vital.”
“We have been very vocal and have been engaged with a lot of members and staff of the relevant committees on the need for the supplemental. I will say that even the [Army] secretary and the chief have had multiple office calls with members, [as they’ve been] getting ready for the posture hearing season, to reinforce that message as well. We’ll continue to do that. I think the department on a whole has been very clear,” Camarillo told reporters following his remarks on Wednesday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also said last month he’s also “optimistic” Congress will take action on the pending supplemental with further aid for Ukraine, adding that Kyiv’s “survival is in danger” in its fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion (Defense Daily, March 19).
Doug Bush, the Army’s acquisition chief, has also said that without the supplemental the service won’t be able to reach its goal of building 100,000 155mm rounds per month by late 2025, a nearly fourfold increase from current capacity, as the service works to replenish its own stockpiles and continue supporting requirements for international partners such as Ukraine and Israel (Defense Daily, Sept. 15 2023).
“It’s vital to the industrial base. It generates jobs here in the United States. It supports our ally in Ukraine and it definitely reflects our commitment to that cause. So it’s vital for the Army that we get that supplemental passed,” Camarillo said on Wednesday.