SITREP - March 14th, 2015

Statement

I'll keep this very brief this week as there isn't a lot of news out of Washington that you haven't already seen. Instead, I wanted to take this opportunity to say a couple things about the tragic training accident that occurred up in the Panhandle earlier this week and what it means in the broader scheme of things. As I am sure many of you have probably seen, a Blackhawk helicopter carrying four Guardsmen and seven Marines crashed in the Santa Rosa Sound on Tuesday. According to reports, the group was a highly experienced crew of special operators who were on assignment in Florida for training.

What struck many in the media is that the crash occurred late at night during adverse weather conditions as the crew conducted training exercises on insertion and extraction techniques. The reality however is that these individuals train as they fight and they do so for good reason. Conflicts and emergencies occur without regard for the weather and rarely do things happen under ideal circumstances. The constant danger that can accompany these missions -- even training missions - highlights the risks that the members of our military take to keep our country safe.

That's why when people say, "we owe our troops a debt of gratitude", it ought to be more than words. Many of them are risking their lives each and every day whether they are deployed or not. And while there are regular disagreements between Congress and the Pentagon about pay and benefits, I think all concerned should agree that at the very least, our country owes our troops ample training and the very best equipment and maintenance that's available. So as we move into the budget process next week and the debate begins in earnest, this issue will be at the very forefront of my mind. As any longtime readers will know, I simply don't view our military as a nice-to-have. For me, it is perhaps the most basic and most fundamental responsibility of our federal government. We cannot expect the states to fight our wars or to keep us safe. Nor can rely purely on the goodwill of our allies (let alone our adversaries) to keep this world a safe and stable place.

But more than just being a big picture, geo-strategic issue, this is something that is also very personal for me. As the father of a Blackhawk pilot currently serving in the Army National Guard, I'm sure you can imagine that a story like this hits very close to home. Wendy and I know very well why these men and women do what they do. We understand what drives them to work hard, to sacrifice and to be stronger than the enemy. We also know the toll it takes on the families at home. The military for us is not an abstract concept. These individuals are flesh and blood. They are mothers and fathers and brothers and daughters. As a country, we sometimes lose sight of that. And when we're talking about issues like sequestration, as we undoubtedly will in the weeks ahead, the risk to our service members is quite literal, ever present and needs to be a featured part of the debate.

Even outside of an active war zone, what our military does is dangerous business. We should never even think about putting them in a position where training, maintenance, and equipment are being scaled back to satisfy an arbitrary rule that doesn't even make sense to the bean counters. Fully understanding the competing priorities within our society, I would be lying to you all if I said this weren't right at the top for me. We owe these guys and gals our best. I intend to see that they get it.

As always though, I'm interested to hear what you all think. So if you have a minute, please drop me a line and let me know where you stand. Thanks again.

Sincerely,
Rich Nugent
Member of Congress

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