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Several of the Pentagon's top military chiefs addressed members of Congress this week to outline the ways defense spending cuts enacted by the sequester will harm the military in the long run, The Washington Post reported. Representing the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, the chiefs addressed the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is helmed by chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

According to the news source, the weakening of the military's manpower, weapons and overall readiness were among the major concerns of the defense officials. Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James Amos called the budget cuts "unsustainable," while Admiral Jonathan Greenert, who oversees Naval operations, told the committee the Navy was "tapped out" in its number of deployed ships.

While the sequester, which is set to reduce defense spending by $480 billion by 2011, has already taken effect, several members of the committee were sympathetic to the chiefs, including Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo.

"We in Congress created this monster, and we keep dragging you up to the Hill to tell us how much damage it has done," Udall said during the hearing. 

Within the next eight years, the sequester is expected to impact nearly every facet of the military, save for the Department of Veterans Affairs and pay and allowances for active-duty troops, Military.com stated.