Although the threat of base closings and cuts in training missions loom in the background, analysts say the privatization program will continue because the Army will have to train soldiers regardless of potential cuts to the Department of Defense's budget or the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan and the end of the war in Iraq.
Rather than a much-needed conversation about coming cuts to the US military budget or the drawdown from Afghanistan and the so-called pivot to Asia, the nation was treated to a risible array of hyperbolic, ill-informed, gotcha questions and expressions of narrow parochial concerns that had almost nothing to do with the challenges facing the next secretary of defense.
In an era of Pentagon budget cuts, troop drawdowns from Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world, Mr. Panetta has been in a very public fight to trim the Pentagon's vast expenses.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has a lot on his mind these days, from cutting the defense budget to managing the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
He is countering apprehension in the region that the Iran nuclear deal, coupled with US budget pressures and the drawdown in Afghanistan, could signal a decline in America's commitment to the region.
"'Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has a lot on his mind these days, from cutting the defense budget to managing the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, but his biggest worry is the growing possibility that Israel will attack Iran over the next few months.
Once in office, he oversaw budget cuts to his department and the continued drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The worsening situation led to large drawdowns from the Revenue Equalization Reserve Fund to finance budget deficits.
This would be the first time the government has executed cuts of this magnitude — and all at once — since the drawdown following World War II, economists and budget analysts said.
By the time she took over, it was already evident that Pentagon budgets simply couldn't be sustained, particularly as a drawdown in Iraq began.
