Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
CNN
March 16, 2009
The Situation Room (CNN), 4:00 PM
WOLF BLITZER: You might think the U.S. military would be a rather safe haven from the crumbling civilian job market. But even some service men and women are living in dread of layoffs.
Let's go to our Pentagon correspondent, Chris Lawrence. He's got the story for us.
This is a -- a special problem for the U.S. Navy, isn't it?
CHRIS LAWRENCE: Exactly, Wolf, because, even as more sailors want to stay in the Navy, Congress is ordering the service to cut its numbers. So, the Navy has instituted these really tough new reenlistment requirements. And that could end thousands of careers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LAWRENCE: This could be the last time Amanda Siren packs her sea bag.
AIRMAN AMANDA SIREN, U.S. NAVY: And when they told me that I couldn't reenlist, it was like a kick in the face.
LAWRENCE: Siren works on aircraft weapons, but too many other sailors do the same thing. The single mom is coming to the end of her first tour, and her family tells her how bad the economy is.
SIREN: They want me to stay in the Navy, so I don't get laid off as a civilian, but the Navy is laying me off as well.
LAWRENCE: She's one of many sailors facing the military's rough new reality.
CHIEF PETTY OFFICER WILLIAM HARDING, U.S. NAVY: In this sense, it's a corporation.
LAWRENCE: But William Harding earned the high rank of chief in under 12 years, and says the cuts clear a path for advancement.
HARDING: If you thought that this was the days that you could just sit back, take a seat in the Navy, not today. You have to perform.
LAWRENCE: The Navy has already dropped bonuses for overmanned jobs, but Amanda Siren would still do another tour, if she could.
SIREN: The money has nothing to do with it. I want to serve my country, and I can't. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Chris, what does the Navy say about these cuts?
LAWRENCE: Well, Wolf, they tell me they're dealing with their highest retention rate in 10 years. Sailors just do not want to go into the private sector right now. But Congress has mandated a smaller Navy. So, officials tell me they are basing these cuts mostly on performance, about 3,000 sailors this year, another 3,000 to follow.
BLITZER: What about other branches, Chris, of -- of the military, are they getting hit as well?
LAWRENCE: Actually, Wolf, quite the opposite.
Congress is adding troops to both the Army and the Marines to fight those wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, some of these Navy personnel may have the skills to cross over, but a lot of them just don't.
BLITZER: Chris Lawrence on the scene for us -- thanks, Chris, for that report.
March 16, 2009
The Situation Room (CNN), 4:00 PM
WOLF BLITZER: You might think the U.S. military would be a rather safe haven from the crumbling civilian job market. But even some service men and women are living in dread of layoffs.
Let's go to our Pentagon correspondent, Chris Lawrence. He's got the story for us.
This is a -- a special problem for the U.S. Navy, isn't it?
CHRIS LAWRENCE: Exactly, Wolf, because, even as more sailors want to stay in the Navy, Congress is ordering the service to cut its numbers. So, the Navy has instituted these really tough new reenlistment requirements. And that could end thousands of careers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LAWRENCE: This could be the last time Amanda Siren packs her sea bag.
AIRMAN AMANDA SIREN, U.S. NAVY: And when they told me that I couldn't reenlist, it was like a kick in the face.
LAWRENCE: Siren works on aircraft weapons, but too many other sailors do the same thing. The single mom is coming to the end of her first tour, and her family tells her how bad the economy is.
SIREN: They want me to stay in the Navy, so I don't get laid off as a civilian, but the Navy is laying me off as well.
LAWRENCE: She's one of many sailors facing the military's rough new reality.
CHIEF PETTY OFFICER WILLIAM HARDING, U.S. NAVY: In this sense, it's a corporation.
LAWRENCE: But William Harding earned the high rank of chief in under 12 years, and says the cuts clear a path for advancement.
HARDING: If you thought that this was the days that you could just sit back, take a seat in the Navy, not today. You have to perform.
LAWRENCE: The Navy has already dropped bonuses for overmanned jobs, but Amanda Siren would still do another tour, if she could.
SIREN: The money has nothing to do with it. I want to serve my country, and I can't. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Chris, what does the Navy say about these cuts?
LAWRENCE: Well, Wolf, they tell me they're dealing with their highest retention rate in 10 years. Sailors just do not want to go into the private sector right now. But Congress has mandated a smaller Navy. So, officials tell me they are basing these cuts mostly on performance, about 3,000 sailors this year, another 3,000 to follow.
BLITZER: What about other branches, Chris, of -- of the military, are they getting hit as well?
LAWRENCE: Actually, Wolf, quite the opposite.
Congress is adding troops to both the Army and the Marines to fight those wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, some of these Navy personnel may have the skills to cross over, but a lot of them just don't.
BLITZER: Chris Lawrence on the scene for us -- thanks, Chris, for that report.
