The military has been at the center of the fiscal cliff talks, and while President Barack Obama has said that payment and housing benefits for troops will not be impacted, that has not eased the concerns of some soldiers. Any significant spending cuts to the Pentagon budget could affect families in a variety of ways, according to The Associated Press.
Should the country go over the fiscal cliff, experts say that many Pentagon employees who perform important tasks, such as healthcare and benefits processing, may be let go. As a result, critical services may be threatened, something that has caused a great deal of concern among troops and their families.
"If our military leadership says it would be a problem, we are all worried about what would happen," military spouse Jeremy Hilton, who cares for a disabled child, told the AP. "We rely on our military community, on our military infrastructure, for support."
Congress is running out of time to reach a deficit reduction strategy before the end of the year. Speaker of the House John Boehner and Obama met during the last week, and their talks did not result in any apparent progress, Reuters reports.