Gates seeks cuts in Defense bureaucracy to fund weapons systems

[The Straight Story]

Gates seeks cuts in Defense bureaucracy to fund weapons systems

ABILENE, Kan. -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Saturday that he will spearhead a thorough scrub of the fiscal 2012 Pentagon budget to find roughly $10 billion in overhead cost savings that can be used to pay for military weapons systems and force structure.

During a speech at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum here, Gates said the Pentagon, whose base budget has nearly doubled in size since 2001, must rein in its spending, focus its more limited dollars on priorities, and restructure its sprawling bureaucracy to run in a more cost-effective and efficient manner.

"Given America's difficult economic circumstances and parlous fiscal condition, military spending on things large and small can and should expect closer, harsher scrutiny," he said. "The gusher has been turned off, and will stay off for a good period of time."


As the military begins work on the 2012 budget, Gates said he is directing the armed services, joint staff, major functional and regional commands and the civilian side of the Pentagon to take a "hard, unsparing look at how they operate - in substance and style."

Gates told reporters before the speech that he needs to cut roughly $10 billion in overhead cost -- which accounts for 40 percent of the defense budget -- to get about 3 percent real growth in modernization and other accounts

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=45239&oref=todaysnews

[pscot]

1. He needs to cut a lot more

than ten billion. We need a base closure comission for overseas bases. It's time tp pull in our horns.