As often seems the case when I write this column, defense funding is in flux.This year is particularly interesting as we are dealing with funding for the remainder of 2011 as well as funding for 2012.The continuing resolution that funds the Department of Defense at 2010 levels will expire on March 18. If a Fiscal Year 2011 Defense Appropriation Bill is not passed and DoD is required to continue to operate at 2010 funding levels for the rest of the year, the results for the Army could be devastating.The AUSA president, Gen. Gordon Sullivan, USA, Ret., is very concerned and has written to senior leaders in the House and Senate urging action.The budget request for Fiscal Year 2011 was $549 billion, and the continuing resolution would come in at $526 billion.Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said it would represent a $23 billion cut in the defense budget in the current fiscal year and would come halfway through the fiscal year.War funding will not be affected, but Gates said that the department likely would use operations and maintenance accounts to compensate for the difference between budget legislation funding and that provided by a continuing resolution, through stretching out programs and making cuts in training and readiness.That would mean for the Army cuts in training for home-stationed ground forces and cuts in maintenance.It would be ironic that just as the services are getting enough time at home station to train for the full range of combat, funding would be insufficient to pay for it.Forces deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan probably will be protected from the more draconian cuts, but forces reconstituting or on watch in other areas of the world will be affected.Gates pledged to do all he can to ensure military families and wounded service members don’t bear any of the brunt by protecting money associated with family programs and wounded warriors.   Sullivan’s letter to congressional leaders urges them to pass defense appropriations legislation immediately.Please add your voice to ours and send a letter of your own using our Web site. Go to www.ausa.org, click on "Legislative Action Center" at the bottom of the page. Put your zip code in the box titled "Elected Officials," and then click on the prepared letter: "Enact 2011 Defense Appropriations Legislation Now."Together we can get Congress off the dime and provide appropriations funding for our military personnel.In the current era of spending cuts, another looming battle for AUSA and The Military Coalition is fighting against any erosion of military benefits – particularly health care benefits.In the proposed Fiscal Year 2012 Defense Budget is a modest increase to TRICARE Prime enrollment fees for working age retirees: $2.50 per month for individuals and $5.00 per month for families in Fiscal Year 2012 and then indexed to Medicare inflation in future years (increases do not apply to survivors or medically retired members and their beneficiaries).While AUSA agrees that the proposed fee increases are "modest," what we don’t agree with is indexing them to Medicare (or medical) inflation. Tying the increases to medical inflation would have meant a 3.4 percent rise this year. It would have risen to 1.4 percent if it had been tied to the military’s annual raise in basic pay.  Fees would have remained flat if linked to retired pay because, for the second year in a row, there is no cost-of-living adjustment for retirees.We will now take our case to Congress.  It is Congress that will ultimately make the decision on this issue.  Please help us get the message to them. Go to www.ausa.org, click on "Legislative Action Center" at the bottom of the page. Put your zip code in the box titled "Elected Officials," and then click on the prepared letter: "Stop Erosion of Health Care Benefits."What AUSA and The Military Coalition believe is that career military personnel and their families endure unique demands and sacrifices – including the willingness to put their lives on the line – during a 20- to 30-year career protecting the freedoms of all Americans.The primary offset for such selfless service is a system of retirement benefits, in particular, health care coverage that is better than that provided to non-military workers – provided by a grateful nation to those who served the national interest for so long.Comparing military health care costs to civilian costs is inappropriate for that very reason. The career demands of military service versus non-military service are not comparable.We will say it again. Congress has provided military retirement and health benefits that exceed civilian benefits as an essential offset to the unique demands and sacrifices inherent in a military career, which far surpass the demands made on civilian workers.This is hardly a prudent time to impose further financial sacrifices on military beneficiaries.Read AUSA NEWS each month for the latest information on what will be an interesting legislative year.