Defense Budget Priorities and Choices
Abstract
The Defense Department s current strategic guidance was driven by the approaching end of a decade of war, a changing technological and geopolitical landscape, and the national security imperative of deficit reduction. The Department s investment choices for FY 2013-2017 were derived from this guidance and conform to the 2011 Budget Control Act s requirement to reduce Defense Department future expenditures by approximately $487 billion over the next decade or $259 billion over the next five years. Reflecting these reductions, the Department will request funding of $525 billion for FY 2013, rising to $567 billion by FY 2017. Achieving these savings is hard, but manageable. It is hard because we have to accept many changes and reductions in areas that previously were sacrosanct. Collectively, the changes align our investments to strategic priorities and budgetary goals, but individually, each one requires a difficult adjustment. It is manageable because the resulting joint force, while smaller and leaner, will remain agile, flexible, ready, innovative, and technologically advanced. It will be a force that is: adaptable and capable of deterring aggression and providing a stabilizing presence, especially in the highest priority areas and missions in the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East, while still ensuring our ability to maintain our defense commitments to Europe and other allies and partners, ready, rapidly deployable, and expeditionary such that it can project power on arrival, capable of defending the homeland and providing support to civil authorities, Possessing cutting-edge capabilities that exploit our technological, joint, and networked advantage, able to reconstitute quickly or grow capabilities as needed and above all, manned and led by the highest quality professionals.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA555036
Entities
Organizations
- United States Department of Defense