Because of pressure to contain defense spending, the Marine Corps must return to its reputation that it can get “a great return on the investment dollar” to ensure that the service holds on to its procurement budget, said Dakota Wood, a retired Marine and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. The escalating costs of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, along with current problems with the Marines’ version of the F- 35 jet fighter, have “tarnished that reputation of an affordable service,” Wood said in a phone interview. “In the past, the Marine Corps has enjoyed the reputation of just asking for what it truly needed.”