Force boost pushes budget request to record

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About $15 billion of the service’s record-setting $141 billion budget request for 2009 will pay for personnel, construction and other costs associated with the Grow the Army campaign that will add soldiers and units to the force.
The budget request sent to Congress on Feb. 4, which is 9 percent bigger than current-year Army funding, does not include operational funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some procurement, recruiting and retention programs needed to maintain the readiness of combat forces.
While the specifics of a supplemental funding request scheduled for release in the spring are not yet available, sources expect the request will total more than $100 billion, based on the experience of war funding for this fiscal year.
For example, the Army’s base budget for 2008 is $129 billion. At least another $128 billion in war funding will be added to that total for an overall expenditure in 2008 of $257 billion.
Lt. Gen. David F. Melcher, the military deputy for budget in the Army secretariat, said a $66 billion supplemental funding request now before Congress needs to be approved by May if the Army is to avoid employee furloughs and emergency funding cuts later in the year.
The Army’s base budget request of $141 billion for fiscal 2009 is 27 percent of the total Defense Department request of $515 billion.
That portion is roughly equivalent to Army funding levels in recent years, according to Melcher.
Nearly $52 billion, or 38 percent, of the Army request is for personnel programs — primarily pay and allowances for an active-component force that is expected to reach 532,000 by Sept. 30, 2009.
Currently there are about 523,000 soldiers in the Regular Army, even though the Army’s base budget calls for only 489,000.
The additional soldiers, and the recruiting and retention incentives needed to maintain the larger population, have so far been funded with war supplementals.
The 2009 request is the first to fully fund the larger end strength, which is projected to reach 547,400 by the end of 2013, and possibly earlier.
Maj. Gen. Edgar E. Stanton, director of the Army budget, said $15 billion of the 2009 request is targeted at programs and projects that directly support the Grow the Army program launched in 2007.
Included are $4 billion for personnel programs, $2.9 billion for operations and maintenance, $4.3 billion for military construction, and $4.1 billion for the procurement of weapons and equipment.
The personnel portion of the overall budget for 2009 continues to be heavily dependent on supplemental funding for re-enlistment and enlistment bonuses.
the Army is requesting a total of $654 million — $339 million in the base budget and $314.8 million in supplemental funding — for selective re-enlistment bonuses in 2009.
Requested funding for enlistment incentives exceeds $1.2 billion, with $347 million earmarked in the base budget and $949 million designated in supplemental funding.
Melcher said 2009 is an important year for military construction projects because of Grow the Army requirements, as well as several stateside and overseas programs related to Base Realignment and Closure activities.
In all, the Army is asking $5.4 billion for barracks renewal projects, facilities required by Grow the Army, facilities required for modular redesign of tactical units, and facilities needed overseas for the repositioning of forces in Europe and South Korea.
Some $4.6 billion is being requested for more than 80 BRAC-related construction projects and environmental compliance programs associated with the closing of some installations.
The Army also requested $1.4 billion for family housing, including funding for 542 new homes and privatization or improvements of more than 5,000 units.
The service also wants to add another 119 Stryker vehicles and 79 Stryker Mobile Gun System vehicles; 5,065 Humvees; 29 M1A2 Abrams tanks; 21 M2A3 Bradley fighting vehicles; 28 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters; 26 LH-72 Light Utility Helicopters; 63 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters; and more.
 
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