Defense Cuts Worry Communities With Military Ties

POSTED: 5:10 pm EST January 6, 2012

UPDATED: 7:04 pm EST January 6, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS -- News of cuts to the country's defense budget has some Indiana communities with close ties to the military on edge.President Barack Obama announced Thursday a new strategy to align with the limits created by the Budget Control Act of last fall, including a focus on airpower and naval strength and fewer ground forces.Since 2003, thousands of reserve and regular soldiers have trained at Camp Atterbury near Edinburgh before their deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.The facility's public affairs officer directed all questions about possible cuts to the Secretary of Defense.But it's no secret that soldiers are welcomed and coveted for their commerce in the surrounding areas.The general manager at a nearby LaQiunta Inn said soldiers and their families were 70 percent of the hotel's business last year, accounting for 3,200 room nights."We have a mixture of soldier, corporate and leisure, but the soldiers are the ones that are perfect for the rooms because they come and stay for months at a time," said Rhonda Thompson. "They are just important for everyone's business."Testimonials about the retail ripple that soldiers produce at local restaurants and shopping malls were also echoed at the Columbus Visitors Center."You will see the military and their families and their staff from Atterbury. That all matters to Columbus, Indiana and Bartholomew County," said Executive Director Lynn Lucas. "It brings us dollars. That's my job, to bring us dollars, outside dollars in this county."With the planned cuts, reports suggest troop numbers could be cut to levels last seen in the 1990s. This change is justified by the strategy's de-emphasis of stability operations like Iraq and Afghanistan and renewed focus on Asia, where naval and air forces are the main tool.

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