JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- About 250,000 active duty and
military veterans call the First Coast home, which means an economic
impact of $14.1 billion dollars a year.
"Every year fiscal decisions have to be made as to how to support the military," said Dan McCarthy, a retired Navy captain and director of the city of Jacksonville Military Affairs Office.
$12.2 billion of the $14.1 billion impact is in Duval County alone, according to the city's Military Affairs Office.
McCarthy now works for the Wounded Warriors project, helping soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The thought that the war on terrorism is drawing down or that the
men and women that we're sending in harm's way don't need to be properly
resourced, is not accurate," he said.
The new U.S. military strategy, unveiled today by President Obama,
calls for at least $500 billion in cuts which worries the former
military officer.
"If you're gonna cut that big, inevitably some people that we're
sending into war are going to feel the impact of that," said McCarthy.
But McCarthy has experienced the cycle of cuts in military spending before and remains optimistic.
"Over the last seven to eight years, we have received less cuts than
any other community, mostly because I believe the Department of Defense
realize the value of Jacksonville and the important strategic role it
plays," he said.
And because of that role, he is confident that the effort to station a
nuclear aircraft carrier at Mayport Naval Station will continue to sail
through even in a tight budget cycle; preliminary plans have already
been approved.
"The aircraft carrier every year will be an issue until the aircraft
carrier pulls in. but to anybody that talks about the cost of the
aircraft carrier to move here, consider the cost if we don't," said
McCarthy.
He said it is bad military strategy to house the entire east coast fleet in one location, Norfolk, Va.
Ander Crenshaw, a member of the Defense Appropriations Committee, issued a statement regarding the new defense strategy, saying:
"The bottom line: National security needs must dictate our defense
strategy at home and around the globe. That approach has and will
continue to serve as the foundation for my defense philosophy. We've
spent ten years rebuilding our nation's military, and I will not allow
short-sighted budget decisions to turn back that progress."
First Coast News