Army Chief Leaves the Reservation

The New York Times and Los Angeles Times are all over the story of Army budget problems this week, reporting on shortages of equipment and on Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker's refusal to submit a budget for next year as a protest move. Slate's Fred Kaplan noted the papers' coverage yesterday, but at the same time, pointed out that back in July, GovExec's Katherine McIntire Peters was reporting that Schoomaker was issuing dire warnings about funding shortfalls at the service. Kaplan also noted Schoomaker's comments at an Aug. 23 appearance at the National Press Club: "There is no sense in us submitting a budget that we cannot execute … a broken budget." That appearance, it seems worth noting, was at a GovExec Leadership Breakfast. There's a transcript of the interview in our Sept. 15 issue.