The new sergeant major of the Marine Corps made his debut appearance on Capitol Hill Wednesday to discuss a well-worn theme: looming budget cuts and their impact on troops' quality of life.

Sgt. Maj. Ronald Green, who became the 18th sergeant major of the Marine Corps just five days ago, testified before the House Appropriations Committee alongside top enlisted leaders from the other armed services.

Green stressed 's message was that : combat readiness should not come at the expense of peace of mind for Marines and their families. With a possible new round of long-term across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration budget cuts on the horizon, Green said that dilemma could be close at hand.

"Within the past year, we've had to take significant financial cuts in core areas, while protecting programs like behavioral health and Ssexual Aassault Pprevention and Rresponse," he said. "Funding those for the Marine Corps below the presidential budget may force a choice between quality of life and quality of work ... Having to choose between quality of life at home and readiness in combat abroad is not a choice we should have to make."

Family support services including childcare and family readiness programs could be cut or downsized, he indicated, to preserve readiness standards for deploying troops.

And if that happens, Green suggested it could impact the Corps' ability to maintain morale and fight the military specter of troop suicide.

"Everything that causes suicide is resource-driven," he said. "There are programs; programs that are threatened to be cut. We have to measure whether we're going to make gains on the battlefield, or what the situation is going to be back with readiness programs, with family and personal readiness," he said.

Green also reiterated a concern about high operational tempo leaving tight dwell time ratios. , with mMany Marines are projected to continue to deploying forward for seven months for every 14 they spend at home. Ideally, Green said, Marines should spend three times as much time at home as they do deployed.

Marines are either preparing to deploy, deploying, or returning from deployment," he said. "All facets of that take resources, especially the return. The time frame that Marines have to get themselves together with their families ... their minds, psychologically, to prepare for the next deployment — the dwell time is a concern."

Regardless of circumstances, Green said Marines would remain ready to deploy and fight.

"The enemy continues to vote to impose a different way of life than our own. Your Corps is there to make sure that they don't win the election. We do that by changing their will or their ability to fight," Green said. "Or, as I tell the young warriors, changing their minds or their Zip codes."

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