Readdress DOD’s operation and maintenance appropriation

Home / Solutions / Bases and Infrastructure

Bases and Infrastructure

Readdress DoD’s operation and maintenance appropriation

The operation and maintenance base budget has risen by nearly 40% since 2000 and was roughly 40% of 2017 requested base budget funding, not including Overseas Contingency funds allocated toward it. Reassessing the amount of money sent to this part of the budget to ensure it is in line with overall force size could save billions of dollars. Reforms could exclude the defense health program from any decreases in funding.

SAVINGS

$151 billion over 10 years

STATUS

LINKS

CBO: Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2017 to 2026 (pg. 71)

“If we are going to effectively tackle the long-term national security threat posed by our national debt, then we need to seriously examine how our defense dollars are being spent. Waste and inefficiency within the Pentagon not only contributes to our nation’s debt and deficit, it also diminishes the effectiveness of our nation’s armed forces."

Dan Caldwell, USMC (ret.)
Concerned Veterans for America

“I'm concerned that our increasing fractious political process, particularly with respect to federal spending, is threatening our ability to properly defend our nation both in the short term and especially in the long term."

Dan Coats
Director of National Intelligence

“This guide is a much-needed first step toward encouraging politicians to consider all available options for substantive Pentagon reform. Our troops deserve better than broken bureaucracy, and politicians shouldn't fool themselves into thinking that throwing money at the problem is the solution."

Capt. Dan Grazier, USMC (ret.)
Project on Government Oversight

Solutions

Pursuing Smart Tradeoffs