PACAF leader: Large budget cuts unlikely

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PACAF leader: Large budget cuts unlikely
By Jennifer H. Svan, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, September 29, 2008

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — No large budget cuts are anticipated for U.S. Pacific Air Forces as the government prepares to enter the new fiscal year Oct. 1, according to the region’s top Air Force leader.

"We’ve been very fortunate that our financial folks have been able to garner a fair amount of year-end money from the Air Force, and we’ve used that to bridge our way into the next year," said Gen. Carrol H. "Howie" Chandler, the PACAF commander.

Some trade-offs will need to be made and priorities set, he said, but PACAF will have the money for "mission-critical" items.

Chandler made a brief stop at Misawa last week en route to Yokota Air Base, near Tokyo, where he was to be a guest speaker at Yokota’s Air Force ball over the weekend. While at Misawa, he flew in an F-16 and met with members of the 13th Fighter Squadron, which is headed to Iraq for a scheduled deployment next year.

Chandler said he wanted to thank Misawa airmen "for the work that they do every day" while continuing to deploy on Air and Space Expeditionary Force rotations.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57743