McCain: Military readiness ‘continues to suffer’

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday the readiness of the U.S. military is suffering.

During an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” McCain was asked about his recent comments that the country is killing more of its people in training than “our enemies are in combat.”

“It’s because of a thing called sequestration and our failure over the last eight years to make sure our military is prepared, equipped, trained,” McCain said.

{mosads}”Whenever you cut defense capabilities, the first thing that goes is the training and the readiness,” he continued.

“And so our readiness continues to suffer and the training that they need very badly is not there.”

His comments come after the USS John S. McCain last month collided with an oil tanker in the Straight of Malacca, killing 10 sailors.

The Navy’s top officer and civilian will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the recent spate of ship collisions that killed 17 sailors.