The Pentagon has issued warnings that with recent cuts it is facing a money crunch made much worse by the new missions in Iraq and Syria.
As a way of saving money the Pentagon does not suggest scaling back on overseas intervention. Instead the military has suggested that military wages should be limited to raises of one per cent and health care coverage should be overhauled. The cost of living adjustments for military retirees will be cut below the level of inflation. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments(CSBA) in Washington DC estimates that the defense budget could face as much as $300 billion in mandatory budget cuts soon. However, the Pentagon has a way around that problem. The Overseas Contingency Operations(OCO) account serves as a credit card with no limits as apply on consumer credit cards.Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the CSBA notes: “There is currently no limit on OCO, so there is as much room as they need." The operations are mostly part of the war on terror. However, "the war on terror" has been branded as politically incorrect some time ago so now there are just overseas contingency operations.
The change was initiated in March of 2009:
In a memo e-mailed this week to Pentagon staff members, the Defense Department's office of security review noted that "this administration prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror' [GWOT.] Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.' "