One of the frustrating things about sequestration — the term applied to automatic cuts of $500 billion from defense and $500 billion from other government spending — is that it wasn't supposed to happen. It was intended to be a worst-case scenario, so scary that lawmakers would rein in the federal budget to keep it from occurring.

No such luck. Partisan gridlock in Washington has stymied budget talks. Now, sequestration is right around the corner, Jan. 3, and defense-heavy areas of the nation are bracing for ... what?

Opinions differ. A few contributors have argued that deep cuts in federal spending are just what the country needs. Steve Chapman, in his Dec. 11 column, assured readers that taking an ax to the Pentagon wouldn't necessarily harm national security because 1) the defense budget is bloated and 2) our overseas bases, holdovers from World War II and the Cold War, are due for downsizing.

Others see it differently. Politicians and economic development boosters interviewed recently described sequestration as a "serious threat" that will have a "huge impact" to local economies that rely on defense projects and could be a "disaster."

Whereas Chapman guessed the Pentagon could absorb a half-trillion dollars in budget cuts by reducing its overseas commitments, local politicians worry about cutbacks in weapons research and development and the ripple effects on defense contractors.

There is a reason for such uncertainty. As the Daily News' Lauren Sage Reinlie reported Friday: "The Pentagon has not released details of exactly how the cuts would be implemented."

Until those details are known, it may be useful to remember that the cuts wouldn't happen all at once but would be spaced out over 10 years.

It's also worth remembering that the people Lauren quoted last week - U.S. Representatives, industry recruiters and others — are all appropriately alarmed. Let's hope they can pressure the powers that be in D.C. to negotiate America back from the brink.

Precisely how sequestration would affect the military infrastructure of local towns across America is, for now, just guesswork. We'd rather it stay that way.

REPRINTED FROM THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA DAILY NEWS