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Lean times at the Pentagon pit active-duty Army against National Guard

The U.S. Army says sequestration is forcing it to modernize its helicopter fleet — by taking them from the National Guard.

How do you get more Apache helicopters for the active-duty Army when you don't have the money to buy them? Take them from the National Guard.
REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
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Congress caused this fight in the first place by allowing sequestration to take effect two years ago, a fact not lost on lawmakers themselves.

Legislators grudgingly signed off on sequestration in 2011, hoping the threat of blind, across-the-board caps on both domestic and defense spending would push them toward a broader deficit reduction package. They failed, and the caps became law in 2013.

Today, sequestration is a common source of angst on Capitol Hill, on both sides of the aisle. Simply put, no one likes sequestration and would rather do away with it — if only there were consensus on what to do in its place.

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