Stars & Stripes reports that “from munitions to missiles, top officials of all four U.S. services on Wednesday told a congressional panel that continued forced spending cuts will bring ‘historic lows’ that would seriously threaten the military’s readiness and capability.”

“Testifying before the Tactical and Land Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, the officials repeatedly warned about the effects of sequestration in fiscal 2014, stressing that the instability and uncertainty of the cuts make it impossible to plan for new weapons, ships, planes and other hardware, and maintenance is being deferred on the military’s current fleet, they said.”

“They did not mince words. Heidi Shyu, the Army’s assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, called the continued cuts ‘devastating.’”

Meanwhile, in an interview with  Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, Defense News reports that “the Army will have to move into an “extreme tiered readiness model” as it struggles to train and equip soldiers amid the ongoing fiscal crisis, the service’s top officer said Wednesday.”