Commandant: Sequester Will "Cut Into Bone"

Now that the deadline has passed, sequestration is set to take effect and Marine Commandant General Jim Amos said today that those cuts will put severe strain on the   Marine Corps, including tens of thousands of Marines still serving in Afghanistan.

Amos: With sequester, USMC will 'cut into bone' By Andrew deGrandpré March 3, 2013 Severe budget cuts are coming and will require the Marine Corps to "cut into bone" as officials are forced to make painful decisions in the months and years ahead, the service's top general warned troops and their families in a letter distributed throughout the force this weekend. With sequestration in effect, the Marine Corps faces a shortfall of about $1.4 billion through the remainder of the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and approximately $2 billion annually through 2022, according to Gen. Jim Amos, the commandant. Though thin on specifics, his letter indicates deep concern about the effect these cutbacks will have on the Corps' active-duty and Reserve personnel, their families and the 20,000 civilians whom the service employs throughout the U.S. and around the world. "We are already a lean and frugal service," Amos wrote, "thus every reduction that we make from this point forward will cut into bone - we are beyond muscle."

We can't let the politics back home effect our troops on the front lines! These Marines are sacrificing 9-12 months of their lives, fighting on the front lines in Afghanistan, to protect their country from the Taliban and Al Qaeda. During that time they cannot see their families or friends back home, putting themselves in harm's way to fight a war we asked them to fight. We can't just send troops off to a foreign war and not support them!