Government shutdown reduces military contracting, increasing pressure on U.S. defense industry

Posted by John Keller

THE MIL & AERO BLOG, 7 Oct. 2013. We've all seen the chicken-little news stories about the federal government shutdown. These, of course, are designed to scare average Americans into believing the fallout from this political stunt is worse than it actually is. I'm betting that Americans are smarter than that, but still ...

We've seen the open-air World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington barricaded and wired shut. A similar closure can be seen for the Iwo Jima Memorial over the Potomac in Arlington, Va. This is keeping honor flights of our fast-disappearing World War II veterans from enjoying a memorial that they earned many times over.

Meanwhile access to the Potomac itself is being limited, federal workers are being furloughed, residents of privately owned houses located on federal land are being forced out of their homes until the shutdown is resolved, and areas in Florida are trying to limit access to the ocean.

I do notice, however, that President Obama's preferred golf course at Fort Belvoir, Va., is open for business, and that First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move Website is still up, but I digress.

Among the things that concerns me most about the shutdown is its effect on U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contracts. The Pentagon's popular "bluetops" announcements of military contract awards have been dark since 30 September -- the last day of the federal fiscal year.

This is not to say that the shutdown has halted all military contracting since 1 October, but my take is it has slowed things down considerably. What this does is tighten the screws on an already-beleaguered U.S. defense industry hit hard by tight budgets and the sequester.

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We're just one week into the government's shutdown, and there's no end in sight. The longer it continues, and the longer Pentagon contracting slows to a trickle, the more likely it is that we'll see furloughs and layoffs of defense industry workers.

These aren't pawns in a political game; they're people with families, mortgage payments, and holiday expenses rapidly approaching. A real question to ask is how much more discouragement can these people take? there's been little good news for quite a while now. Makes me wonder when they'll start leaving the defense industry for something the appears more stable.

We have irreplaceable experience and expertise in the U.S. defense industry. Really, it's a fragile thing not to be taken lightly, for there's potential for real and lasting damage to this essential industrial sector.

But for those elected officials in Washington looking to score cheap political points, I doubt if they've considered that. Let's hope the workers affected have clear memories over the next couple of election cycles.