U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said the summer cuts at Army bases in Hawai'i are relatively minimal.

"On the whole, we've done all right with (facilities costs), up until the point of dealing with current operating expenses," he said. "(But) now it's catching up to Schofield with the employment contracts and that sort of thing. It's the canary in the mine."

INTO 'FISCAL DITCH'

The Army is $500 million short of the money it needs to operate its bases because of Iraq, House Democrats said recently in criticizing the handling of the war.

President Bush on Thursday, responding to reports that a National Intelligence Estimate concluded that Iraq has become a "cause célEbre" for terrorists, who are growing in number, said the greatest danger to America is not the U.S. military presence in Iraq, but rather a premature withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Abercrombie and U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., spoke Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, and said the alternative to "wrecking" the U.S. military is to dramatically reduce the size of the U.S. force in Iraq.

"Where we are headed is right into the fiscal ditch," Abercrombie said. "Just on equipment alone for the Army, just to replace what we need right now in order to sustain deployment readiness capabilities, is $17 billion. It's an astounding number, and it's not there."

Schofield is not alone in dealing with cuts. In Texas, it was reported that Fort Hood's custodial services were reduced to restroom cleaning and all ground maintenance was stopped, and that Fort Sam Houston was not able to pay its utility bill. Fort Carson in Colorado closed two of six mess halls.

Abercrombie said there is adequate funding for the $1.5 billion Stryker brigade at Schofield Barracks, which will have 328 eight-wheeled armored vehicles, and the current deployment of more than 7,000 Schofield soldiers to northern Iraq.

"The problem is that's merely the base funding in the budget. That's the foundation, and the equipment that they are going to lose ... and the down time for equipment repair time, maintenance, is enormous in the military," he said.

SCHOFIELD SHORT

In addition to the current deployment of more than 7,000 Schofield soldiers to northern Iraq, an Army official said the new Stryker brigade is expected to deploy to Iraq next summer.

Schofield spokesman Kendrick Washington said official word has not been received that the Stryker brigade is going anywhere.

"Of course there are rumors out there about everything," he said, "but nothing definitive has come down."

The Army has been under-funding its base operations accounts, and its fiscal problems have been building, for several years. When fiscal year 2006 started last October, the Army had only 69 percent of the money it needed for activities ranging from cutting grass and maintaining buildings to paying civilians to man security gates and equipment warehouses.

The Army was counting on money from the Bush administration's $72 billion emergency defense spending request to help cover those activities, but when Congress failed to pass the bill before the Memorial Day recess, belt-tightening began.

Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody warned in a memo in May that unless Congress passed the bill, the Army would have to cut back on spare parts and supplies and cancel travel and training, and in June would have to stop hiring civilians and let temporary workers go.

Even when Congress approved $94 billion in emergency war spending in June, including $722 million for Army base operations, the Army was still $500 million short of the total it needed, according to the House Democrats.

The Army in July said it was spending up to 11 percent less on base contractual obligations and was buying only those supplies needed for war, the Inside the Army newsletter reported.

Joyce Raezer, director of government relations for the National Military Family Association, expressed concern about the ability of service members to concentrate on their mission overseas when worrying about families back home.

"Installation professionals charged with supporting service members and their families note that this past year, more than ever, they seemed to start 'in the hole' and were never able to work their way out," Raezer said on the organization's Web site.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.