Defense Drawdowns: Analysis with Implications
Abstract
During drawdowns, the nation historically reduces defense spending to about $375 billion, in real terms. Currently, the nation is expending $646 billion for defense, including war-related funding on top of the $531 billion base budget. With decreasing operations in Afghanistan, the nation's challenging fiscal and economic situations will also demand significant reductions in the base defense budget. If the nation follows historical patterns during the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) drawdown, it may reduce the base defense budget by about 24 percent (i.e., $1.4 trillion) over the next 10 years, more reductions than sequestration requires in the 2011 Budget Control Act. Under such a drawdown scenario, the Department of Defense (DoD) would have to consider a reduction of 500,000 active duty service members, particularly given the increased costs of manpower, which have grown 63 percent since the nation implemented the all-volunteer force. Meanwhile, the DoD increased its spending on Defense-Wide activities, National Guard and Reserves, and Special Operations Forces, even during drawdowns, which are consuming larger percentages of funding. Finally, the DoD spends about 22 percent of its budget to equip a smaller force with more expensive equipment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 21, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA561899
Entities
People
- John Ulrich
Organizations
- United States Army War College