For defense, a tough budget balancing act.

• Author: Farrell, Lawrence P., Jr
• Position: President's Perspective

The House Armed Services Committee just completed its markup of the fiscal year 2015 defense authorization bill. Though consistent with the Budget Control Act caps, it moves dollars around--cutting operations, maintenance and military construction to offset administration cuts to pay and benefits. Next is action by the appropriators.

Committees are expected to take up the Defense Department's budget in the July-September timeframe. Lawmakers face a difficult challenge as they deal with an administration budget request that is in excess of the BCA caps established for 2016 and beyond. The Pentagon is seeking $115 billion above the caps for 2016 through 2019 to meet defense needs. Military leaders agree the extra money is necessary to prevent the armed forces from becoming hollow.

The Defense Department and the military services must lay out spending and force sizing plans that can actually meet their mission requirements as laid out in national security documents. They also must satisfy the requirements of the regional and geographic combatant commanders.

The question is how and what do the services plan for in this era of budget uncertainty?

It is possible that the fiscal year 2016 and subsequent budget negotiations will be a repeat of 2013, when gridlock prevailed and sequester ensued, along with the resulting inefficient budget distribution. Will there be some relief as we saw in fiscal year 2014 and 2015?

There has been some discussion about the services preparing and submitting multiple budgets, based on different scenarios, including full sequester. There are several possible routes here, which is itself a problem. The proliferation of possibilities--and the impossibility of planning for all at once--creates real difficulties for the services. Do they hedge their bets against the hope for budget relief? Or plan for the reality of BCA and lower caps, thus forfeiting the possibility of advocating for and gaining somewhat higher budget authority?

The work to make it all fit ultimately falls, as it always does, to the services, which must execute and perform, no matter the final decision.

The choices require a careful balance among readiness, investment and force structure.

The Army is focusing on the present and war operations while trying to halt the slide of its force structure at no lower than 450,000 soldiers. Now moving from 575,000 to 490,000 soldiers, the Army could see that number fall to 420,000 under sequester. The Army's...