[Budget of the United States Government]
[VI. Investing in the Common Good: Program Performance in Federal Functions]
[13. National Defense]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 
                          13.  NATIONAL DEFENSE

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                          Table 13-1.  FEDERAL RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE
                                            (In millions of dollars)
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                                                                               Estimate
               Function 050                   1998   -----------------------------------------------------------
                                             Actual     1999      2000      2001      2002      2003      2004
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Spending:
  Discretionary Budget Authority..........   272,370   276,982   281,588   301,321   303,208   313,581   322,343
  Mandatory Outlays:
    Existing law..........................    -1,792      -815      -766      -614      -743      -710      -660
Credit Activity:
  Direct loan disbursements...............  ........       172       249       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A
  Guaranteed loans........................        25        32        37       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A
Tax Expenditures:
  Existing law............................     2,095     2,120     2,140     2,160     2,180     2,200     2,220
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
N/A = Not available

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  The Federal Government will allocate $281.6 billion in discretionary 
resources in 2000 to defend the United States, its citizens, its allies, 
and to protect and advance American interests around the world. National 
defense programs and activities ensure that the United States maintains 
strong, ready, and modern military forces to promote U.S. objectives in 
peacetime, deter conflict, and if necessary, successfully defend our 
Nation and its interests in wartime.
  Over the past half-century, our defense program has deterred both 
conventional and nuclear attack on U.S. soil and brought a successful 
end to the Cold War. Today, the United States is the sole remaining 
superpower in the world, with military capabilities unsurpassed by any 
Nation. As the world's best trained and best equipped fighting force, 
the U.S. military continues to provide the strength and leadership that 
serve as the foundation upon which to promote peace, freedom, and 
prosperity around the globe.

Department of Defense (DOD)

  The DOD budget provides for the pay, training, operation, basing, and 
support of U.S. military forces, and for the development and acquisition 
of modern equipment to:
  Shape the international environment by maintaining U.S. defense forces 
at levels sufficient to undertake our strategy of engagement, and 
conducting programs to reduce weapons of mass destruction, prevent their 
proliferation, and combat terrorism;
  Respond to the full spectrum of crises by deploying forces overseas 
and maintaining capabilities to mobilize forces stationed on U.S. soil;
  Prepare for an uncertain future by giving U.S. forces the military 
hardware that employs the best available technologies; and
  Ensure that the U.S. military remains the world's most prepared and 
capable force by sustaining force readiness levels and reengineering 
business practices to improve operations.
  To achieve these objectives, the defense program supports the 
following forces and activities.

  Conventional Forces: Conventional forces include ground forces such as 
infantry and tank units; air forces such as tactical aircraft;

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naval forces such as aircraft carriers, destroyers, and attack 
submarines; and Marine Corps expeditionary forces. The Nation needs 
conventional forces to deter aggression and, when that fails, to defeat 
it. Funds to support these forces cover pay and benefits for military 
personnel; the purchase, operation, and maintenance of conventional 
systems such as tanks, aircraft, and ships; the purchase of ammunition 
and spare parts; and training.
  Mobility Forces: Mobility forces provide the airlift and sealift that 
transport military personnel and materiel throughout the world. They 
play a critical role in U.S. defense strategy and are a vital part of 
America's response to contingencies that range from humanitarian relief 
efforts to major theater wars. Airlift aircraft provide a flexible, 
rapid way to deploy forces and supplies quickly to distant regions, 
while sealift ships allow the deployment of large numbers of heavy 
forces together with their fuel and supplies. The mobility program also 
includes prepositioning equipment and supplies at sea or on land near 
the location of a potential crisis, allowing U.S. forces that must 
respond rapidly to crises overseas to quickly draw upon these 
prepositioned items.
  Strategic Nuclear Forces: Strategic nuclear forces are also important 
to our military capability. They include land-based intercontinental 
ballistic missiles, submarine launched ballistic missiles, and long-
range strategic bombers. Within treaty-imposed limits, the primary 
mission of strategic forces is to deter nuclear attack against the 
United States and its allies, and to convince potential adversaries that 
they will never gain a nuclear advantage against our Nation.
  Supporting Activities: Supporting activities include research and 
development, communications, intelligence, training and medical 
services, central supply and maintenance, and other logistics 
activities. For example, the Defense Health Program provides health care 
through DOD facilities, as well as through the CHAMPUS medical insurance 
program and TRICARE, its companion program.

DOD Performance

  DOD's corporate goals derive from the key tenets of the U.S. national 
security strategy and form the basis of the performance goals and 
measures presented here. Each performance goal reflects one aspect of 
DOD's corporate goals and together contribute to the overall assessment 
of the Department's performance.

  Shaping the International Environment and Responding to the Full 
Spectrum of Crises: DOD's first performance goal is to shape the 
international environment by participating in international security 
organizations, such as NATO, and improving our ability to work 
cooperatively with our friends and allies. Such efforts are designed to 
promote regional stability and security, and reduce the threat of war. 
Their failure could lead to a major conflict affecting U.S. interests.
  Also, DOD must be able to respond to the full spectrum of crises, from 
small-scale contingencies to two nearly simultaneous major theater wars.
  Evaluating DOD's performance in this area includes an assessment of:
   The ability of U.S. forces to enhance and sustain security 
          relationships with friends and allies, enhance coalition 
          warfighting, promote regional stability and support U.S. 
          regional security objectives, deter aggression, and prevent or 
          reduce the threat of conflict. One measure of this is DOD's 
          ability to conduct joint exercises. In 2000, DOD will conduct 
          146 combined military exercises.
  The budget will support DOD's continued success in implementing 
programs that reduce the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction 
(WMD). To that end DOD's Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) activities, 
in concert with enhanced threat reduction programs in the Departments of 
Energy and State, will continue to assist the successor states of the 
former Soviet Union secure, dismantle and destroy weapons; and help 
these states prevent the proliferation of WMD-related material and 
expertise.
  Overseas presence, mobility, and the sustaining of a capable force 
structure are also key to DOD's ability to respond effectively to 
crises. DOD's effectiveness will be determined, in part, by the ability 
of U.S. forces ``forward deployed'' (that is, on site around the world) 
and those deploying from U.S.

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bases to rapidly converge at the scene of a potential conflict to deter 
hostilities and protect U.S. citizens and interests in times of crisis.
   The Army will maintain one mechanized division in the Pacific 
          region and two divisions with elements in Europe.
   The Navy will maintain an overseas presence, defined by the 
          percentage of time regions are covered by an aircraft carrier 
          battle group, at 100 percent in the Pacific, 75 percent in 
          Europe and 75 percent in Southwest Asia.
   The Air Force will maintain two fighter wing equivalents in 
          the Pacific, one in Alaska, two in Europe and one in Southwest 
          Asia.
   The Marine corps will cover the Pacific region with a Marine 
          expeditionary unit or amphibious ready group one hundred 
          percent of the time, Europe eighty percent of the time, and 
          Southwest Asia 50 percent of the time.
  DOD's current force structure was derived from the Quadrennial Defense 
Review (QDR) which was designed to respond to the full spectrum of 
crises, up to and including two major-theater wars. DOD acknowledges the 
impact of a high rate of operation on unit readiness. Therefore, DOD 
will closely monitor the pace of peacetime operations across the forces. 
In 2000, these measures include:
   The Army will maintain four active corps headquarters, 18 
          active and National Guard divisions, two active armored 
          cavalry regiments, and 15 National Guard enhanced readiness 
          brigades. The Army will lower the number of units deploying 
          more than 120 days per year to zero.
   The Navy will maintain 11 aircraft wings, 12 amphibious ready 
          groups, 12 aircraft carriers, 56 attack submarines, and 114 
          surface combatants. In addition, the Navy will reduce to zero 
          the number of units not meeting its personnel tempo goal.
   The Air Force will maintain 20.2 Air Force Fighter wing 
          equivalents, four air defense squadrons, and 187 bombers. The 
          Air Force will lower the number of units deploying more than 
          120 days per year to zero.
   The Marine Corps will maintain three marine expeditionary 
          forces, three active and one reserve divisions, three active 
          and one reserve air wings, and three active and one reserve 
          force service support groups. The Marine Corps will lower to 
          zero the number of units deploying more than 180 days per year 
          over a 36-month scheduling period.
  Remaining the world's most ready and capable force depends on four 
elements: ensuring the readiness of military units; retaining and 
recruiting high-quality personnel; strengthening and enhancing quality 
of life programs for military members and their families; and providing 
equal opportunity throughout the armed services.
  DOD has identified specific milestones to measure progress and to 
monitor readiness levels in each area, such as the amount of training 
that individual units accomplish, the availability and operability of 
equipment, and the achievement of recruiting and retention goals.
   Several factors determine overall unit readiness, such as 
          training, quality and availability of equipment, and number of 
          personnel and, in 2000, DOD will ensure that all of its units 
          meet their specified readiness goals.
   In 2000, on average, the Army will attain 800 tank miles per 
          tank a year; active Air Force fighter crews will achieve 19.1 
          flying hours per crew a month; the Marine Corps will fully 
          execute its mission training syllabus; and Navy ships will 
          steam 50.5 days per quarter for deployed vessels and 28 days 
          for non-deployed vessels.
  Finally, the amount of sealift and airlift capacity must be sufficient 
to meet deployment time lines for deterring and defeating large-scale, 
cross-border aggression in two distant theaters in overlapping time 
frames, and to sustain U.S. forces engaged in two major theater wars.
   In 2000, DOD will attain an organic strategic airlift 
          capability of 26 million ton

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          miles a day and will attain a surge sealift capacity of 8.7 
          million square feet.

  Preparing Now for an Uncertain Future: To achieve DOD's second 
corporate goal, U.S. forces must maintain a qualitative superiority over 
potential adversaries by pursuing a focused procurement and research and 
development program. DOD must transform the force by exploiting the 
Revolution in Military Affairs, and reengineer the Department to achieve 
a 21st Century infrastructure. (Chapter 11, ``Supporting the World's 
Strongest Military Force,'' contains a description of major DOD 
acquisition deliverables.) Achieving this goal depends on ensuring that:
   DOD will recruit 203,000 new members of the armed services, 
          and will obtain 60 percent of recruits from the top half of 
          those tested for service.
  As part of meeting this goal, DOD will follow the strategy of Joint 
Vision 2010, developed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to 
transform U.S. forces for the future, and it will exploit emerging 
communication, information and associated technologies to reshape the 
way it fights and prepares for war.
   DOD will acquire modern and capable weapon systems and will 
          deliver them to U.S. forces in 25 percent less time, from 132 
          months in 1992 to 99 months in 2000, and will meet required 
          performance specifications.
   Defense Technology Objectives (DTOs) guide both basic 
          research and focused investment. In 2000, DOD will maintain 70 
          percent of DTOs on track.
   Joint experimentation is an aggressive new program designed 
          to give insights into new operational concepts and validate 
          their ability to meet future battlefield requirements. In 
          2000, DOD will conduct 14 joint experiments.
  DOD must develop new, innovative approaches to manage infrastructure 
costs, improve the quality of health care, and capitalize on the 
revolution in business affairs. Following the end of the Cold War, the 
United States began a major reduction of its military forces. DOD's cuts 
in infrastructure costs, however, have not kept pace. To make further 
cuts, DOD plans to adopt innovative management techniques and 
technological practices.
  The Defense Health Program will work to improve the quality of health 
care provided to beneficiaries, expand their access to care, and contain 
the cost of that care to the Federal government. These goals will be 
achieved through continued measurement of health outcomes and customer 
satisfaction, partnerships with other Federal agencies as well as the 
private sector, and sizing the system to reflect the wartime and 
peacetime requirements more accurately.
  As part of this goal, DOD must also transform its support functions. 
Therefore, DOD has identified specific measures around which to focus 
the reform of acquisition and business affairs.
  By 2000, DOD will:
   Ensure that U.S. forces can achieve visibility of 90 percent 
          of DOD materiel assets, while resupplying military 
          peacekeepers and warfighters and reducing the 1997 average 
          order-to-receipt time from 36 days to 18 days in 2000.
   Dispose of $500 million in excess National Defense Stockpile 
          inventories and reduce other supply inventories by $53 
          billion.
   Dispose of 41 million cumulative square feet of excess real 
          property.
   Award contracts for the construction of 41,000 privatized 
          family housing units.
   Compete 50,000 positions under the OMB A-76 public-private 
          sector competitions process.
   Limit the cost growth of major acquisition programs to less 
          than one percent.
   Simplify purchasing and payment by using purchase card 
          transactions for 90 percent of all DOD micropurchases, while 
          reengineering the requisitioning, funding, and ordering 
          processes.
   Cut paper acquisition transactions by half from 1997 levels 
          through electronic commerce and electronic data interchange.
   Eliminate layers of management by streamlining processes, 
          while cutting

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          DOD's acquisition-related work force by 15 percent.

Department of Energy (DOE) Performance

  DOE contributes to our national security mainly by reducing the global 
danger from nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. DOE 
is committed to maintaining confidence in the nuclear weapons stockpile 
without testing, as required under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; to 
strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime; to work with states of 
the former Soviet Union to improve control of nuclear materials; to 
develop improved technologies to detect, identify, and respond to the 
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and illicit materials 
trafficking; and to clean up aggressively the environmental legacy of 
nuclear weapons programs.
  The budget proposes $12.3 billion to meet DOE's national security 
objectives, of which $6.3 billion is for ongoing national security 
missions and $6.0 billion addresses environmental cleanup activities.
  DOE will achieve the following performance goals:
National Security
   Meet all scheduled nuclear weapons alterations and 
          modifications and certify to the President that standards for 
          safety, reliability, and performance of the nuclear weapons 
          stockpile are met.
   Demonstrate a computer code to perform 3-D analysis of the 
          behavior of a nuclear weapons primary, including the 
          prediction of total explosive yield.
   Dismantle about 375 nuclear warheads that have been removed 
          from the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.
   Begin to implement a bilateral agreement with Russia for 
          disposing of surplus weapons plutonium.
   Continue upgrades to protect fissile materials at over 50 
          sites in Russia including five uranium and plutonium 
          processing sites, three nuclear weapons complex sites, and 10 
          Russian Navy projects; and create civilian ventures in 
          Russia's formerly closed nuclear cities to block nuclear 
          smuggling.
Environmental Quality
   Complete 200 release site assessments. A release site is a 
          specific location where hazardous, radioactive, or mixed waste 
          has or is suspected to have occurred.
   Clean up 200 release sites, bringing the number completed to 
          more than 4,500 of a total inventory of approximately 9,300 
          release sites.
   Complete 400 facility decommissioning assessments.
   Decommission 110 facilities, increasing the number completed 
          to 730 of approximately 2,850 facilities.

Other Defense-Related Activities

  Other activities that support national defense and that are 
implementing performance measurement include programs involving the:
   Coast Guard, which supports the defense mission through 
          overseas deployments for engagements with friends and allies, 
          port security teams, boarding and inspection teams for 
          enforcing U.N. sanctions, training, aids to navigation, 
          international icebreaking, equipment maintenance, and support 
          of the Coast Guard Reserve;
   Federal Bureau of Investigation, which conducts 
          counterintelligence and surveillance activities;
   Maritime Administration, which helps maintain a fleet of 
          active, military useful, privately owned U.S. vessels that 
          would be available in times of national emergency;
   Arlington National Cemetery, which is developing an expansion 
          plan for using contiguous land sites that will be vacated by 
          the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps; and
   Selective Service System, which is modernizing its 
          registration process to promote military recruiting among 
          registrants. This spirit of volunteerism will be achieved in 
          partnership with the America's Promise group, private 
          corporations, and the armed services.

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                             Accurately Recognizing and Reporting Veterans Benefits
 
  The Nation has long viewed veterans programs as a key way to attract the high-quality people needed for our
volunteer armed forces. Americans recognize veterans benefits as an appropriate part of the compensation
provided for service in the military. Veterans programs are inextricably linked with national defense; without
defense, veterans programs would not exist.
 
  Because the Veterans Affairs Department funds and administers these benefits, however, the Federal Government
has accounted for them differently than other defense-related budget costs. They appear in the budget's Veterans
Benefits and Services function, not the National Defense function. Also, the budget does not report the full
size of these obligations. Rather than recognize the benefits and future Federal obligations that military
members earn through their service, the budget reports only the amounts paid in a single year to veterans. Thus,
neither the Defense Department (DOD) nor Congress gets a full picture of defense personnel costs when making
decisions about the size and scope of our military, making it far harder to consider which package of benefits
might best attract and retain quality military personnel. Finally, the 1993 Government Performance and Results
Act encourages policy makers to align missions and related Government programs in the budget.
 
  The Administration, which plans to work with Congress this year to address this problem, believes that any of
the following four options would improve the current budgetary treatment of veterans programs, enabling the
Government to more accurately measure the true cost of our national defense: (1) move the veterans-related
discretionary accounts into the Defense function; (2) fund veterans entitlements on an accrual basis in DOD's
budget and fund discretionary veterans programs in the Defense function; (3) fund veterans entitlements on an
accrual basis in DOD's budget and display veterans spending in related functions (e.g., Education); or (4) fund
veterans entitlements on an accrual basis in DOD's budget and continue to reflect veterans spending in its
current function.
 
  Table 13-2 below shows the estimated annual charges to DOD's military personnel account from pre-funding
veterans benefits.
 
 
 


    Table 13-2.  ACCRUING VA BENEFITS FOR CURRENT MILITARY PERSONNEL
 (Notional Costs of Accruing and Actuarially Funding VA Benefits in DOD
                                 Budget)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Percentage      2000 DOD
                                               of DOD     Notional Cost
                  Program                    Basic Pay   (in millions of
                                                \2\          dollars)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VA Compensation...........................        11.6%            4,482
Active Duty Education.....................         2.0%              773
 VA Loans.................................         0.2%               77
 Vocational Rehabilitation and Counseling.         0.9%              348
VA Pensions...............................         2.5%              966
VA Burial.................................         0.1%               39
                                           -----------------------------
  Total VA Benefits.......................        17.3%            6,684
 
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\1\ For a more detailed discussion of veterans programs, see Chapter 27,
  ``Veterans Benefits and Services.''
\2\ Basic pay for military personnel does not include benefits, special
  and incentive pay or bonuses, or housing and subsistence allowances.

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