Dateline: 06/26/01
Updated: 06/27/00

The Department of Defense has reported it will request a total of $329 billion in the 2002 federal budget. The amended request adds over $18 billion to President Bush's February Budget Proposal and includes $7.5 billion for the National Missile Defense System.

The $329 billion total represents an increase of $33 billion over defense funding for 2001.

In a press release of June 25, 2001, the Defense Department justified the increased expenditure. "The administration has inherited severe shortfalls in readiness, in health care, in operations, maintenance and infrastructure, far worse than was originally understood," said a senior defense official. "This amendment takes steps to begin to deal with these funding deficiencies and to establish fiscal certainty and discipline." 

Specific defense budget request spending request increases include:

• $4.1 billion for quality of life issues such as pay and housing
• $2 billion for Defense Department Health Program
• $1.6 billion for base operation support
• $1.3 billion for flying hours, depot maintenance, spares, range and training center modernization
• $2.6 billion for force protection
• $2.6 billion for other infrastructure issues
• $3.6 billion for modernization

An additional $600 million is requested for the National Missile Defense Program, bringing total fiscal 2002 spending for the controversial plan to $7.5 billion. [See: Tracking Missile Defense - About Team Coverage]

The $3.6 billion for "modernization" is designated to help fund command and control systems, information operations equipment and research, additional airlift, and spare parts for aircraft and ships. Also rolled in are joint experimentation projects aimed at helping the force transform, the official said.

The $3.6 billion request would put modernization totals up to around $62 billion in fiscal 2002.

The budget includes the largest boost in military pay and benefits in a generation. Reflecting the large increases in pay and allowances, funding for Military Personnel is to climb from $75 billion in FY 2001 to $82 billion in FY 2002.

The budget increases housing allowances to improve the quality of housing and enable military personnel and their families to afford acceptable private sector housing. It will reduce the service members' average out-of-pocket housing expenses from the current 15 percent to 11.3 percent in FY 2002 and eliminate the average out-of-pocket expense completely by FY 2005. The budget includes $4.1 billion for Family Housing - up from $3.6 billion in FY 2001.

While no new weapons platforms are funded in this budget increase request, money would be provided for development of promising new technologies and capabilities necessary for the U.S. military to "transform itself into a relevant 21st century force." Specific spending for this effort will be released later this summer, defense officials said.

This budget amendment has not formally been presented to Congress. Officials expect the amendment to go to Congress before its July 4th holiday recess.

•