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Army: Hunter accusations on reset wrong

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The Army has contracted for more than $9 billion in repairs and equipment since October 1 to reset its war-ravaged arsenal.

The data was released in response to criticism from outgoing House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Duncan Hunter, R- Calif.

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On Tuesday, Hunter accused the Army of having a case of the "slows" in repairing and replacing the force's equipment which has been severely degraded by five years of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army raised major alarms about the funding crunch in June, demanding $17. 1 billion on top of its annual budget and the daily cost of war.

"We told them when we gave them this money, you spend this money now, get out there and get this stuff repaired," said Hunter, who is considering a bid for the presidency.

"The Army bureaucracy has a case of the slows ... The last report we got from them is they've only obligated $3.8 billion of the $17.1 billion extra that we gave them. Spend it."

The Army said late Wednesday in a press release directly responding to Hunter's accusations that in fact the opposite is true.

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"The Army's current plan to equip and reset the force is ahead of schedule. With the entire $17.1 billion supplemental allocated by Congress at the beginning of fiscal year 2007, the Army has obligated $9.8 billion for reset-$4 billion has gone for depot and field-level repair, while $5.8 billion has been allocated for new procurements."

The Army began to spend the reset funding six days after it was provided by Congress, according to the statement.

"The rapid release of those funds allowed the Army to front load new procurements within the initial 90 days of the fiscal year. The majority of procurement funding will be obligated by Feb '07. The Army will spend the entire $17.1 billion before the end of FY '07."

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