The Coast Guard Has Billions in Overdue Maintenance, and Lawmakers Are Concerned

[Elderberry]

 Military.com By Dorothy Mills-Gregg 3/12/2020

After a "dead on arrival" Coast Guard budget request last year, the president's proposed fiscal 2021 budget for the service had a better reception from lawmakers Tuesday.

However, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security Chairwoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-California, told Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz that she is concerned the request does not include enough to tackle the service's maintenance backlog.

"It really concerns me that, despite the nearly $2 billion backlog of crumbling shore infrastructure, which you just described, 40% of which is over -- my understanding -- 50 years or older, that the president's budget request proposes deep cuts to last year's enacted level for all the lines that fund infrastructure," she said.

Congress appropriated about $12.2 billion for the Coast Guard in fiscal 2020, allocating roughly $1.8 billion for the service's procurement, construction and improvement fund. While next year's overall budget request is for a similar amount, it decreases this capital fund by about $135 million.

More: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/03/12/coast-guard-has-billions-overdue-maintenance-and-lawmakers-are-concerned.html

[txradioguy]

IMHO a lot of these maintenance shortfalls are a direct result of sequestration and Obama's "dollar for dollar" mandate.

The effects of what he did to the military will be felt for decades.

[Chosen Daughter]

IMHO a lot of these maintenance shortfalls are a direct result of sequestration and Obama's "dollar for dollar" mandate.

The effects of what he did to the military will be felt for decades.

Could you post that information?  This just seems very shameful, and there has been several bills with military funding passed.  Why hasn't this been addressed?

[libertybele]

IMHO a lot of these maintenance shortfalls are a direct result of sequestration and Obama's "dollar for dollar" mandate.

The effects of what he did to the military will be felt for decades.

 

[txradioguy]

Could you post that information?  This just seems very shameful, and there has been several bills with military funding passed.  Why hasn't this been addressed?

@Chosen Daughter I'll see what I can find.  What I said is based on what I'v seen and heard internally and from friends in other services.

Sequestration and Obama's dollar for dollar DoD v Welfare mandate meant that sacrifices and cuts had to be made.  Maintenance was the first to suffer. 

Everything got used out and extended and maintenance dollars were shifted to operational accounts to fund what we were doing in Iraq and Afghanistan.  So for example...maintenance that was normally required at 30 hours got extended to 60...60 hour maintenance extended to 120 and up from there.  This is true on aircraft...ships and tanks.

It took some time but the consequences of these necessary (at the time) actions are coming home to roost now.  IIRC there's two subs in Groton that have lost their dive status.  Fighter jets that are limited on the maneuvering they can do because air frame maintenance has been delayed and certain G Force levels will crack the airframes.  Ships have been forced into extended dry dock periods to address all the repairs and refits that have been neglected and of course we see how the Coast Guard is suffering.

It would take IMHO almost a doubling of the currently proposed defense budget to address the maintenance shortfalls and get our hardware back up to combat ready specs.

But no one on either side of the aisle or in the WH is equipped with the needed brass ones to make this happen.

[truth_seeker]

When Trump signed a big budget, explaining he was rebuilding the military, after Obama's neglect, several #nevertrumpers here just ignored that fact, and bitched about the budget.

Understand yet?

[Chosen Daughter]

Thank you for the reply.  Good information.  But what I am wondering is the big defense allocations in the OMNIBUS spending bills.  $738 Billion for 2020.  And hasn't Trump taken from Pentagon Defense to fund the wall?  Which BTW I haven't heard about for awhile.  I tried to search how many miles of wall and all I get is very old information.

Just seems like this Lawmaker, even though she is a Democrat has a legitimate question about critical funding for Coast Guard.