Posts Tagged ‘Congress/DOD’

House appropriators fully support the administration’s fiscal 2014 request to spend $798 million for upgrades at 17 DOD Education Activity schools located overseas and within the U.S., but at the same time they want to make sure the department doesn’t invest in facilities at installations slated to be downsized. “[The committee] is concerned that the changes that are occurring across the Department of Defense associated with force structure reductions may impact whether funding is needed at an installation or if it is determined not to be an enduring installation …

Many federal agencies are likely to be funded through a continuing resolution in fiscal 2014 because of the sharp differences between spending levels the two chambers are using to draft individual appropriations measures. On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committees approved topline figures for each of the 12 spending bills totaling $967 billion. At the same time, Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has said her committee would be moving bills based on a $1.058 billion topline, a figure which ignores the spending caps triggered under sequestration …

One of the Pentagon’s objectives in the previous round of BRAC was to reduce its use of leased space, particularly in the Washington metro area. Recommendations directing DOD offices to move from leased space to DOD-owned facilities, primarily installations, were intended to save money and ensure DOD activities occupied facilities meeting anti-terrorism/force protection standards. Since the conclusion of the 2005 round, however, the department has continued to rely on leased space …

The House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee went one step further than it did last year in rejecting the Pentagon’s request for two base closure rounds. Rather than simply ignoring this year’s request to hold a BRAC round in 2015, the panel included language in the portion of the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill it is scheduled to mark up Thursday precluding the department from using FY 2014 appropriations “to propose, plan for or execute an additional BRAC round …

U.S. Special Operations Command could establish three pilot programs to assess the feasibility of providing family support activities for the immediate family members of personnel assigned to special operations forces, according to the portion of the draft fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill scheduled to be marked up Wednesday by the House Armed Services’ Military Personnel Subcommittee. The measure directs the commander of Special Operations Command to identify family support activities that have a direct and concrete impact on the readiness of special operations forces but that do not duplicate programs being provided by the military departments …

With the Army expected to decide shortly how it will rebalance its force structure as it reduces its active-duty end strength by 72,000 soldiers, House appropriators are concerned the service may commit to spending money on building new facilities after it already spent billions of dollars since 2005 on military construction to accommodate the population shifts generated by the last BRAC round. “Army planning to potentially add combat maneuver battalions and supporting units at certain installations in support of Army 2020 may result in a sizeable obligation to the Army’s budget at the same time the Army is trying to reduce the size of its force structure …

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday named the 2013 recipients of the Commander in Chief’s Annual Award for Installation Excellence, which recognizes installations’ exemplary support of DOD missions: Fort Rucker, Ala.; Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.; Naval Support Activity Panama City, Panama City Beach, Fla.; Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Miss.; and Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio …

Lawmakers on the six subcommittees of the House Armed Services Committee are expected to tackle a number of high-profile issues when then mark up the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill this week — including the military’s handling of sexual assault, women in combat and oversight of drone strikes — but initiatives proposed by the Pentagon to help curb spending likely will be ignored. For starters, the Readiness Subcommittee is almost certain to leave out authorization for a base closure round in 2015 as DOD has requested …

In a process the Air Force calls “back-casting,” budget officials plan to take the service’s budget priorities for fiscal 2015 and apply them to funding levels in FY 2013 and 2014 in an effort to eliminate spending that no longer is needed. Officials believe the approach will help to smooth the transition to successive budget requests, as well as help the service manage sequestration, reported InsideDefense.com.

Key components of military strength, including force structure, acquisition programs and missions, likely would bear the brunt of cutbacks under a range of budget scenarios expected to be offered following a review of defense strategy now underway at the Pentagon. Defense officials would prefer to include base closures and changes to military compensation as ways to slash the budget over the next eight years, but they realize Congress probably won’t endorse those initiatives …