War Supplemental Requests $4.4 Billion More for Army
War Supplemental Requests $4.4 Billion More for Army
The Defense Department has asked Congress for an additional $5.8 billion for overseas contingency operations, funding that would be on top of the $58.8 billion previously sought.
The Army would get $4.4 billion of the additional money, according to the Defense Department request. The Pentagon previously requested $25 billion in overseas contingency funds for the Army.
Operations and maintenance expenses account for $3.2 billion of the Army request, with an additional $814 million in operating expenses for Afghanistan Security Forces. Direct personnel costs for the Army made up just $94 million of the request.
The request assumed there will be about 2,400 more troops involved in Operation Freedom’s Sentinel in Afghanistan than previously planned, the result of a decision to slow the drawdown of forces. Additionally, the request assumed about 2,000 more troops involved in Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria.
Operations and force protection make up $2.8 billion of the overall defense request, covering the cost of having more deployed troops than previously budgeted. This includes funds to cover the additional cost of special pay and subsistence for deployed forces, deployment and redeployment of forces, and the fuel and operating costs for ground vehicles and aviation.
The second biggest piece of the request is $1.3 billion for in-theater support, covering expenses for personnel and units operating in the region but not directly in Afghanistan and Iraq.