Odierno: Troops’ Readiness ‘Degrading Significantly’
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Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — Gen. Raymond Odierno, the Army Chief of Staff, told a group of reporters Tuesday that sequestration cuts could impact training efforts that could make the Army less prepared for a ground intervention in Syria should the Obama administration take that course of action.
According to Foreign Policy’s E-Ring Blog, Gen. Odierno told reporters at the Defense Writers Group breakfast that sequestration cuts could affect the Army’s readiness by the end of the summer.
“Readiness is OK right now, but it’s degrading significantly because our training is reducing. So, the next three, four months, we probably have the capability to do it,” Odierno is quoted as saying of a potential U.S. Army intervention in Syria. “Next year, it becomes a little bit more risky.”
“If you ask me today, we have forces that can go. I think it will change over time because the longer we go cancelling training and reducing our training, the readiness levels go down,” said Odierno. He explained that, “It’s a matter of us having the dollars to make sure they are ready and trained to meet such a contingency in Syria.”
Odierno thinks the Assad regime will collapse at some point. “I kind of believe it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” he said.
He added, “I think from what I’ve seen is they have made some significant gains. I think they are controlling the territory. It makes you think that, you know, it’s going to be difficult for the regime over time to survive.”
And he’s concerned about the long-range implications of what happens in Syria. “If we don’t get this right, what happens the day after…could change the whole face of the Middle East, or it could go smoothly,” he speculated. “How do we from an international coalition try to make this happen in such a way where we don’t create incredible instability once Syria falls. That’s what I worry about.”
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