The 2013 defense budget is highly vulnerable to the final decision — or indecision — of the bipartisan Congressional supercommittee, Todd Harrison and Evan Braden Montgomery write in a new Center for Strategic and Budgetary assessments analysis, "Changing the Business of Defense."
If the panel is unable to come up with a plan to cut $1.5 trillion from the deficit and across-the-board cuts are imposed, DoD could see its base budget slashed from $524 billion to $472 billion, according to their analysis.
DoD faces difficult choices in organizing its budget, the authors write. But as a matter of first resort, it should examine how it does business to become more efficient — and that includes making changes to military pay and benefits.
However, the authors of the analysis say the Pentagon should not focus only on cutting but on maximizing the value of the $181 billion spent on military pay and benefits.
For example, in terms of numbers, TRICARE for Life will benefit a relatively small number of retired military personnel, as more than 80 percent of service members won't stay in the service for the required 20 years to qualify for the program. Nevertheless, DoD must set aside more than $5,000 annually for each potential participant.