As drumbeats for war against the Islamic State group intensify, the Army may face a reality check in putting “boots on ground” in the Middle East if sequestration returns in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If we’ve learned anything in the last 13 years, this Army can do just about anything,” Army Secretary John McHugh told the <\/span>Army Times Wednesday during a meeting with defense writers in Washington, D.C., but “slipping into sequestration would significantly damage or erode our ability to answer the bell.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, President Obama submitted to Congress a draft Authorization for the Use of Military Force against ISIL, and Congress returned Monday to begin debate on how to expand the conflict against the extremistsISIL<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If passed, the joint resolution would allow the “use of the Armed Forces of the United States as the President determines to be necessary and appropriate against ISIL or associated persons or forces.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sabers are already <\/span>rattling, especially with hawkish new members sitting in Congress since November’s mid-term elections.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he wants “the Republican party to talk openly about the hard things, like having boots on the ground in Syria and Iraq, American boots on the ground,” during an interview with ABC on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet the Army is stretched thin, facing budgetary constraints, significant force reductions in the wake of its missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as expanded missions in European Command EUCOM <\/span>and elsewhere, the Army is stretched thinly as it is<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meeting the call for offensive ground operations against ISIL will be a tough order with the threat of sequestration looming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The president and chairman of Joint Chiefs, our new secretary of defense and others are mindful of our limits and capacity and will have to make some decisions as to how much they ask us,” McHugh said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We will do everything we can to meet the mission.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n McHugh realizes that debate on the AUMF is ongoing, and it’s too early to determine specific force projections for a potential “boots on ground” mission against ISIL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those numbers, however, will have to mean cuts elsewhere in the Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “These kinds of missions historically are executed with a mindful consideration of what else you’re asking us to do,” McHugh said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We do reach a point with sequestration when our overseers are going to have to say exactly what they don’t<\/i> wish us to do any longer.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n McHugh will begin posture hearings before Congressional oversight committees next Wednesday to make the case for relief from budget caps in fiscal 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Congress provided us some relief in 2014 and 2015, so we’ve managed to manage the unmanageable,” McHugh said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “But the wolf is not just at the door, he’s walking in the front hallway.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Army secretary says the ability to fight the Islamic State group will erode if sequestration returns in 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":67996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[12,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1071],"class_list":["post-34458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"WRTCISNF7FDDZPMA6PZU4ZBNIY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2015\/02\/26\/john-mchugh-sequestration-would-endanger-is-fight\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n