[ready to edit. TNS might have something similar, not sure their plans]

FB: Tough talk. Top Air Force leaders tell Congress they need more money, or airmen could "needlessly" get hurt.

Air Force leaders again this week are ramping up their rhetoric to Congress, desperatelyurging Congress themto protect their budget from the possible return of sequestration budget caps.

"The fundamental issue is going to be that the American people cannot expect their military to do what we've been asked to do in the past if we stay at this funding level," Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said. If the service is forced to cut back under sequestration, airmen could "needlessly die and become injured," Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday today.

The Defense Department's fiscal 2016 budget request calls for $534 billion in base funding, about $35 billion above the sequestration-imposed budget caps. If the caps are imposed, tThe Air Force would have been to cut make additional cut backs if the caps are imposed, which would include cutting the U-2, block 40 RQ-4 Global Hawks and KC-10 Extenders, reduce along with reductions in F-35 purchases and reduced flying hours, Air Force leaders have said.

"The [request] preserves the minimum requirement to meet current strategy," Welsh and Secretary Deborah Lee James and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said in testimony to the committee. "But even at [this] level, the Air Force remains stressed and shortfalls exist. Reversion to sequestration-level funding will carry great risk for American airmen, and for America itself."

James and Welsh appeared alongside the service chiefs and secretaries of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps service chiefs and secretaries at the hearing on Thursday to beg for more funding. Even without if Congress prevents sequestration, the Air Force is calling for retirement of still forced to make "unpopular" cuts, namely the most controversial move: cutting the A-10, a move key lawmakers oppose.

Sequestration hit the Air Force's combat squadrons in 2013, forcing 17 to stand down and others to reduce flying hours. The service is still trying to recover from that readiness hit, but it will take eight to 10 years, Welsh said. In addition to the flight hours, the Air Force has not been able to build on its training ranges.

James and Welsh appeared alongside the service chiefs and secretaries of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps service chiefs and secretaries at the hearing on Thursday to beg for more funding.

"The fundamental issue is going to be that the American people cannot expect their military to do what we've been asked to do in the past if we stay at this funding level," Welsh said.

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