U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the spending cuts known as sequestration are starting to cause serious problems in the military.
He fears cuts like the one-day-a-week furloughs occurring on bases around the country will cause some longtime employees to seek work elsewhere, thereby losing much needed expertise.
Hagel took a tour of Naval Air Station Jacksonville's Fleet Readiness Center on Tuesday, and held a town hall meeting with about 100 employees who are being furloughed. Several expressed frustration that lawmakers in Washington can't come up with a better plan than the across the board sequestration cuts.
Hagel told them he shares their frustration, but he in unable to do anything about it since the sequester is the law.
He also told them unless Congress comes up with something else there will be more extensive cuts in the coming year.
