Despite President Obama's mandate that the defense spending be cut by $400 billion during the next 12 years, the Pentagon has proposed its highest budget adjusted for inflation since World War II – further evidence that the Pentagon is facing many of the budget-busting expenses as Congress itself. Just as Congress considers reining in expenses for Medicare, the Pentagon is struggling with rising health-care costs, as well as congressionally enacted pay raises for servicemen and women.
The result is that the Pentagon “is spending more but not necessarily getting more,” according to a report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) in Washington, which was released Monday. The report points out that the US military has “essentially the same size, force structure, and capabilities” as in 2001, but costs 35 percent more.
In fact, more than half of the Pentagon's spending increases during the past decade have nothing to do the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, meaning the drawing down of those wars will not alone solve the Pentagon's problems.
Yet the CSBA report also suggests that there are savings in the Pentagon budget that would not impact the readiness of the military and the missions that US troops undertake in the future.