LAKEWOOD — Military officials are holding a town hall meeting in Lakewood on Wednesday to discuss proposed cuts at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
The Olympian reported that the base could lose up to 11,000 soldiers and civilians, on top of the 5,000 already gone.
Base officials want to hear from residents of the south Puget Sound about how the cuts could impact local communities so the Army can decide what steps to take next and how to meet its budget.
Lawmakers and military officials say some losses will happen unless Congress repeals the forced federal budget cuts known as sequestration. The plan calls for cutting about $500 billion in planned military spending by 2021.
Washington’s congressional representatives say they are opposed to the cuts.
Rep. Adam Smith, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, says general cuts to the Army are easier to pass in Congress than canceling individual military programs.
“Since Congress is not allowing those things to happen, then the Army’s got do to what it’s got to do,” said Smith, who voted against the 2011 budget compromise that set the stage for the Army force reductions.
Rep. Denny Heck, D-Olympia, whose district includes JBLM, says there’s no question that the military will be downsizing, but will it be done in a smart way.
Sequestration, he said, is “a blunt instrument. It’s a stupid instrument. It’s not a strategic instrument.”
Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, used similarly strong language.
“I’m pretty sure that sequestration is a Latin word for stupid,” said Kilmer, who this month was given a seat on the House committee that makes major decisions about spending. “Making deep, across-the-board cuts without any thoughtful prioritization or strategy is another example of Congress failing to make the tough decisions.”
Two years ago, a budget deal negotiated by Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan bought some time for the Pentagon by delaying some of sequestration’s most immediate cuts.
Now the Army is getting ready for that grace period to end.
In 2012, then Defense Secretary Leon Panetta proposed shrinking the Army from its peak in 2011 of 570,000 soldiers to a force of 490,000.
The Army in 2013 published a report on how to reach that target, largely by taking roughly one combat brigade from every major Army installation while drawing down units stationed overseas.
That plan has already cost JBLM about 5,000 soldiers who were assigned to now-inactivated Stryker, artillery and aviation units.
Last year, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called for an even smaller force of 450,000 active-duty soldiers.
JBLM now has about 27,600 active-duty soldiers assigned to it, down from a peak of about 34,000 in 2011. The base could have as few as 16,000 soldiers if it’s hit with the full cuts under consideration.
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