Marine Commandant Memo Adds Billions to DoD’s Growing Weather Cleanup
By Paul McLeary on March 22, 2019 at 4:07 PM
WASHINGTON: A pair of memos from Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller paint a grim picture of the Corps’ fiscal health at a time when the White House and Pentagon bask in the glow of their record $750 billion request for fiscal 2020.
The missives, sent in recent weeks to the Navy Secretary and Acting Defense Secretary lay out a variety of factors — from devastating hurricanes, demands on the southwest border, and new, unfunded deployments to the boded with Mexico — that are forcing the Marines to cancel critical multinational exercises and training.
What the memos make clear is that the general’s most pressing concern — by far — is the fallout from September’s Hurricane Florence, which smashed into North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune, causing an estimated $3.6 billion in damage. The Corps doesn’t have enough money to repair the base before a new hurricane season whips up, and no new cash appears on the way from the Pentagon or Congress.
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/03/marine-commandant-memo-adds-billions-to-dods-growing-weather-cleanup/
