By Jim Garamone – DoD News
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2017 defense budget request highlights defending against challenges posed by Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and terrorist groups, a senior defense official said on background.
Each challenge requires different budgeting, resources, capabilities and capacities, all inside of the two-year budget agreement.
The fiscal 2017 request is pegged at $582.7 billion, including an overseas contingency operations request of $58.8 billion.
The request calls for a 1.6 percent pay hike for military personnel and civilians, and puts readiness on the path for recovery by fiscal 2022.
The budget continues the delicate task of balancing the readiness, capabilities and force structure of the U.S. military, the official said.
‘Emergent Great Powers’
Countering Russia and China is a return to great-power competition, which entails building a joint force that is ready — and, more importantly, has the capacity — to meet great power requirements today and in the future, the official explained.
In the overseas contingency operations portion of the budget is $3.4 billion for the European Reassurance Initiative, intended to fund continuous armored brigade rotations in Europe, more — and more involved — exercises, and prepositioning all the vehicles and equipment an armored brigade combat team would need.
Other investments specifically tied to Russia and China are those that enhance cyberspace capabilities, power projection, some space efforts, missile defense, science and technology investments and command and control.
These are the “capabilities that would allow us to be able to compete with these emergent great powers in the future,” the official said.
Funding these capabilities also place the U.S. military in a good position in dealing with “the challenges we’ve got in North Korea, Iran, and then, of course, the efforts against [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] in the Middle East… and in northern Africa,” he said.
Closing the Gap
The Budget Agreement Act of 2015 cut funds to DoD by $18 billion between fiscal 2016 and 2017. The department had to find a way to close that gap from within, the official said.
The economic situation made it a bit easier to do this year with lower fuel costs, he said, which saved the department around $2 billion alone. Congress placed another $5 billion in the OCO fund, which also provided some relief, the official added.
To make up the rest, “generally speaking, the services made reductions in [operations and maintenance], and they cut and delayed procurement,” the official said. There were also some efficiencies the department made that are paying off.
The military did not take large reductions in capacity. End strength for the military remains at 1,281,900 active-duty forces and 801,200 reservists. Army end strength is 460,000 and Marine Corps at 182,000.
The Navy will have 322,900 sailors and 11 aircraft carriers included in a total of 287 ships. There will be 96 operational bombers and 54 tactical fighter squadrons. The Air Force end strength is 317,000 airmen.
Challenge of Operational Demand
All this is a good start for the military, but it is only a start, the official said. “A dollar-for-dollar increase does not equal a linear increase in service readiness — there are other factors at play,” he said.
“Operational demand is a key one in the Air Force and the Army in particular. The operational demand for units in some cases precludes regeneration of the readiness that we would need to confront the full range of the challenges that the secretary has talked about.”
The budget does regenerate readiness — if no new missions are added to the U.S. military’s existing mission set. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff “is intensely interested in regenerating readiness of the joint force and generating comprehensive joint readiness, the official said.
But the readiness regeneration is uneven among the services, he said, “And the uncertainty is driven, really, by operational demand in the future.”
Retirement, Tricare Savings
From a personnel standpoint, DoD will make a legislative proposal later in the year that’s tied to some savings in the program related to blended retirement, the official said.
The department will also work on issues of continuation pay. “The law really says 12 years of service is where we’ll pay continuation pay,” the official said.
“We’re looking to have greater latitude and flexibility in where it comes and how much the continuation pay occurs for a service member.”
The department also hopes to adjust the thrift savings program matching portions and possible have them occur later, he added.
The official said he believes Congress will make changes to the Tricare program this year. “The joint staff has worked as part of this effort,” he said.
Whatever is done, it must “increase access for everyone who utilizes the military health care system — provide more responsive care and finally be sufficient, more sufficient fiscally,” the official said.
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