NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Defense will take the biggest beating. That's where up to 50% of the forced budget cuts will be made. Some of it will be equipment and weapons that aren't bought and training that's put off. A retired Marine Corps General tells FOX17 NEWS the bottom line with all these cuts is people. No one in our area will feel those cuts more than the 101st Airborne, which straddles the Tennessee/Kentucky border. Post officials have already said large scale training exercises will be cut back and other training will only be available for soldiers who are making ready for eminent redeployment. Disgust over that reality had people braving the weather to protest outside the VA Hospital in Nashville. It was led by retired Marine Corps General John Castellaw from Crocket County. He says 7000 DOD civilian employees in Tennessee are now in line for costly pay cuts because of furloughs.

"Get to work. Get this done. Stop sequestration. Congress, do your job," says General Castellaw. "One thing at a time so that our veterans do not suffer for what our government has not done."

The Veterans Administration, which operates hospitals like the VA, are exempt from forced cuts. The commissaries on post at Fort Campbell are not. They will be forced to send workers home and may have to reduce hours. Nashville attorney Bob Tuke is a member of the board that oversees Tennessee's 3 state veterans homes.

"Veterans are returning from fighting for this nation, defending our nation against our enemies," says Tuke. "They come home to find their Congress is cutting their opportunity to get jobs in the civilian sector and it's just wrong."

Make no mistake, anything the government does is likely to take longer because of sequestration.

"A log jam of any kind of services that effect all Americans," says former federal employee Ann Caldwell.

Congresswoman Diane Black (R-TN 6th District) is blasting the President. Instead of coming up with a plan to avoid sequester cuts, Black says the President is flying around the country spreading misinformation to support what she says he really wants, more tax hikes.
Retired Marine Corps General Tells FOX17 NEWS the Bottom Line with All These Cuts is People - Scott Couch