Biden administration takes short view of DOD budget | Army may become bill-payer for Air Force, Navy | Navy Reserve surgeon discusses COVID-19 deployment
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has declared a state of emergency and plans to send 250 National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border to help handle the influx of migrants. Guard members are to assist at detention centers, maintain border cameras, and collect border camera data and analyze satellite imagery to detect smugglers.
The Biden administration may forgo preparing a Future Years Defense Program plan, a step also skipped by previous administrations in the first year. A memo by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks points to the administration's "focus on a very small number of issues with direct impact on FY 2022."
A possible budget cut for the US Army would sideline modernization efforts as the service awaits the release of the Biden administration's top line recommendation. Experts say the Army may lose funding in order to prioritize spending by other service branches.
Capt. Jonathan Pryor, a trauma surgeon at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, Calif., served Navy Reserve stints in Iraq and Afghanistan before being deployed last year to help fight COVID-19 in New York City. "COVID is ... unlike anything a military member is accustomed to seeing," said Pryor.
The Space Force's plans regarding how it will manage the integration of active duty service members and reserve members has been unclear, leading Air Force Reserve members serving in the Space Wing to be uncertain regarding whether there will be a "single component" or a separate Space Force Reserve, writes Air Force Reserve officer Brent Ziarnick. "The Space Force can extend an olive branch to their reserve partners by releasing their current plan and soliciting feedback," Ziarnick writes.
The Michigan Senate voted unanimously to earmark $110,000 in private grant funds to provide meal vouchers for National Guard members deployed in Washington, D.C., to mitigate challenges service members have experienced with food of poor quality. The measure has additional steps at the state House and at the governor's desk before it can be implemented.
