McRaven: Too Deep Service Cuts Could Hurt Special Operations Command

Posted Sep 22, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Sep 22, 2011 at 10:05 PM

When last we visited the concern over budget cuts and the military, we were hearing from U.S. Central Command Chief of Staff that the Tampa-based command could shed as many as 2,100 jobs in the next three years as it works to meet budget cuts being made across the military.

Now we hear from U.S. Special Operations Command, whose chief, Adm. William McRaven, told the House Armed Services Committee this afternoon that the wildly successful special ops community – considered a bargain in lethality – will suffer if too many cuts are made to the services as the U.S. draws down its efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Socom, said McRaven, relies heavily on the services for logistics and support.

Slash the services too deeply, argued McRaven, and Socom will suffer too.