IAs not Going Anywhere Soon

First it was the Chief of Naval Personnel.  Admiral Ferguson sounded the alarm about the ongoing cost of IAs, freezing PCS moves for as many as 14,000 sailors to cover the costs.  And to demonstrate the permanence of the IA billets, CNP wants a plus-up in Navy personnel written into the budget.

Taking those IA billets "out of hide" took a toll on the readiness of the Navy's deploying commands over the past few years.  Though officials have started to get sailors to volunteer for these assignments as regular tours, they still need bodies to fill the billets.  That's why, Ferguson said, he went to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead and then-Navy Secretary Donald Winter to halt the drawdown.

Then, Admiral Mullen concurred:

Sailors and airmen should continue to expect supplemental assignments to Iraq and Afghanistan for the next several years, even after more U.S. troops arrive to support missions in Afghanistan, the top U.S. military officer said Monday.

"As long as we have the Army and the Marine Corps dwell time below 2-to-1, the Air Force and the Navy need to provide that capability," Mullen said.

The budget follows:

The [Navy] budget calls for an end strength of 328,000 sailors, including 4,400 temporary Individual Augmentees paid out of contingency accounts....  The Navy number represents a halt to downsizing.