Kinzinger: Budget, Training Hindering Military Readiness

The military is facing a readiness crisis over spending and training issues, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Friday, while responding to questions about the Navy following the collision of USS John S. McCain with an oil tanker near Singapore earlier this week.

"The military in general is, the Navy is, as they only have two battalions ready today," the Illinois Republican, himself a veteran of the Air Force, told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."

Part of the issue is in military spending, said Kinzinger, as there is a cap on what Congress can spend.

"They deserve every penny and more," said Kinzinger, but it's not only money issues.

"I think it is something else, the amount of what I call ancillary training that we put on, whether it is sailors, airmen, once a quarter, you have to sit down and just do a bunch of computer-based training that has nothing to do with your ability to do your job," said Kinzinger.

Some of the issue also involve information awareness, he continued, and training requirements for computer simulations.

"A lot of it is either a congressional leadership or military leadership, covering themselves by saying 'well, if there is a problem, at least we put the computer-based training up,'" said Kinzinger. "But it takes away from the ability to go in and train with the limited time that they have."

The USS McCain incident remains under investigation, and there are several factors surrounding the crash, said Kinzinger.

"There are always training accidents," he said. "It is particularly dangerous, even in peacetime operations, but to see Navy ships collide, it is not like going down and getting into a car wreck. This takes a lot of time."

The United States has the "best military" and the "best people in the military, but there is something that is missing," said Kinzinger. "I think no one should have any doubts that our Navy is unmatched, even with these unfortunate incidents."

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