This week in DoD sequestration news
The Pentagon once again has plans to submit a budget proposal to Congress that does not take into account the sequester-induced automatic budget cuts. While Department of Defense leaders and members of Congress continue to spar over what can, or cannot, be removed from the DoD budget, the members of our armed forces and their families continue to wait to see how their careers and benefits may be affected. To help readers stay informed about how sequestration is affecting military families, and how those families are reacting, First Command Financial Services has created a new webpage, Bridging the Sequestration Gap.
The page features information on what military families are thinking (and doing) about sequestration, with statistics updated monthly with survey findings from the First Command Financial Behaviors Index®. Current postings include information on servicemembers’ anxiety about sequestration, their views on Congress voiding sequestration and actions they are taking to deal with sequestration. If you prefer to get more detail than the bulleted stats on the page, you can view press releases on recent topics such as how servicemembers are saving more and spending less, and how budget cuts influenced their mid-term election voting plans.
The page also features five articles, one for each service branch, about these challenges that military families are facing, and their need for understanding and guidance in the transition from current uncertainties to the future reality of defense downsizing.
Finally, I invite you to view a short video featuring First Command’s CEO Scott Spiker, in which he presents how the financial services firm is striving to help military families bridge the gap in their knowledge and understanding of these issues, and the impact on their way of life.
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