A press release from the Department of Defense outlining their proposal for the fiscal year 2013 budget:
President Barack Obama today sent to Congress a proposed defense budget of $613.9 billion for fiscal 2013. The request for the Department of Defense (DoD) includes $525.4 billion in discretionary budget authority to fund base defense programs and $88.5 billion to support Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), primarily in Afghanistan.
“This budget plan represents a historic shift to the future, recognizing that we are at a strategic point after a decade of war,” said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
“The plan is aligned to strategic priorities we have identified to keep America safe and maintain the strongest military in the world. It is also a signal of the department’s commitment to our men and women in uniform and their families. We are also redoubling our efforts to make better use of the taxpayer’s defense dollar and meet our fiscal responsibilities,” Panetta said.
The $525.4 billion for the base budget includes cuts and other initiatives that will reduce planned spending by $259 billion over the next five years and $487 billion over ten years, levels that are consistent with the Budget Control Act. The budget adjusts programs that develop and procure military equipment; begins to re-size ground forces; slows the growth of compensation and benefit programs; continues to make better use of defense resources by reducing lower-priority programs, and restructures the defense organization to achieve more efficient approaches to doing business.
The proposed budget reflects the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq in December 2011, as well as savings due to operational progress in Afghanistan and the transition to Afghan responsibility for security.
The proposed budget ends a two year pay freeze for federal workers and also suggests an increase in military pay by 1.7 percent. Both active-duty military and federal workers are being asked to contribute more to retirement and benefits programs, however.
Highlights of the proposed DoD budget are outlined at http://www.defense.gov/news/2013budget.pdf . For more information and to view the entire fiscal 2013 budget proposal, please visit http://www.budget.mil and download the “FY 2013 Budget Request Overview Book.”
