Force boost pushes budget request to record

[unhappycamper]

Force boost pushes budget request to record
By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Feb 17, 2008 12:08:17 EST

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.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/army_budget_080217w/



uhc comment: We're already at $735,700,000,000 for 2009 --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=11462