Local Family Says Military Cuts Will Leave Them Jobless
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JACKSON, Tenn — Three West Tennessee National Guard Armories are in jeopardy after the Department of Defense proposed possible budget cuts. Sarah Lilly and her husband, both soldiers, will lose their jobs if the proposed budget cuts take effect. They would be two of the more than 100,000 military personnel that would be without jobs. They have worked for the site in Jackson for almost four years now. Two-hundred helicopters in the National Guard alone are on the chopping block. Captain Brian Lennon says that’s enough to shut down their post. “We’re talking about closing flight facilities down and losing up to as many as 113 full-time jobs and close to 700 traditional National Guard slots,” Lennon says. He believes shutting down these units would be a big mistake, and that keeping the National Guard positions would be a way to save money because most of their soldiers aren’t working there full-time. “It wouldn’t do us any good if we were gone. That’s what the National Guard is for – to defend our borders, and I really think we’re needed,” Lilly says. The Pentagon is proposing this spending plan next week.
