Budget themes: investments leveled, programs slipped, non-performers nixed.

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

A big portion of the discretionary spending reductions in President Obama's 2013 to 2017 funding request is in the defense budget.

The budget removes about $50 billion per year, for a total of $259 billion in cuts over the five-year plan. This constitutes a 22 percent decrease from 2010--the contemporary highpoint of defense base spending--through 2017. By the way the shifting points of comparison make it hard to follow. If one looks at 2011 or 2012 as a base of comparison, the decrease is smaller.

One could reasonably conclude that the decreases in spending originate in three areas. The first is a leveling of acquisition, which pays for about 50 percent of the cuts. The second component is slipping programs to the right. A significant amount of procurement is being pushed beyond 2017. The third component is that poorly performing programs will now be canceled.

Here are some key points in the documents: Reset is critical and a priority for the ground forces, and rotations will substitute for previously in-place forces. Special operations and unmanned aerial systems are on the rise as are cyberwarfare capabilities and the countering of weapons of mass destruction. The administration has also stated the importance of protecting the industrial base and maintaining the three legs of the nuclear triad.

A pivot to the Pacific is the goal, and the Middle East will be considered a maritime theater. The development of a new bomber will proceed as will upgraded sensors, cruise missiles, electronic warfare and communications systems. As for the Navy, plans call for new afloat staging bases and a refit/upgrade program for older ships as bridges to new designs.

The ability to quickly reverse lost capabilities--in the military and industrial base--is assumed.

So how has this criteria played out? First, the Army will remove eight brigade combat teams. Two of these will come from Europe, and implications are that there may be more to come. Army end strength is programmed to decrease to 490,000. The Army budget will decrease 9 percent from 2012 to 2013 with big hits to procurement. The Ground Combat Vehicle slips one year to the right--losing $1.7 billion from 2013 to 2017. Aviation funding will slow along with the vehicle cuts.

The Navy loses $58 billion and its personnel numbers drop to 319,500 by 2017. Most of the funding decrease of $32 billion comes from procurement. The Navy will retire seven cruisers an two logistics ships, though it still retains 11...