Todd Harrison

Todd Harrison

Senior Fellow, Defense Budget Studies

Areas of Expertise

Defense Budgets, Military Compensation, Portfolio Management, Systems Engineering, Military Space Systems, Defense Acquisitions and Defense Industrial Base

Social

Biography

Todd Harrison is the Senior Fellow for Defense Budget Studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

Mr. Harrison joined CSBA in 2009 from Booz Allen Hamilton, where he supported clients across the Department of Defense, assessing challenges to modernization initiatives and evaluating the performance of acquisition programs. He previously worked in the aerospace industry developing advanced space systems and technologies and served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.

Since joining CSBA, Mr. Harrison has authored a number of publications on trends in the overall defense budget, modernization initiatives, the defense industrial base, military personnel costs, and the cost of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. He frequently contributes to print and broadcast media and has appeared on CNBC, CNN, NPR, Al Jazeera English, and Fox News. He has been a guest lecturer for a number of organizations, including Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, the U.S. Army's School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), and the National Defense University.

He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with both a B.S. and an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics. Mr. Harrison combines his budgetary, programmatic and engineering experience with a strong background in systems analysis to lead the Budget Studies program for CSBA. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Author Bibliography for Todd Harrison

Evaluating Options for a Sustainable Defense

July 20, 2010 • By Todd Harrison

As the economy struggles to emerge from the deepest recession since the Great Depression, the federal government faces a dire fiscal situation. The budget deficit is projected to reach as…

Analysis of the FY 2011 Defense Budget

June 29, 2010 • By Todd Harrison

The Obama Administration’s FY 2011 budget request includes a total of $712 billion for the Department of Defense (DoD). The base budget for the Department includes $549 billion in discretionary…

The New Guns Versus Butter Debate

May 24, 2010 • By Todd Harrison

As the economy begins to emerge from the deepest recession since the Great Depression, the federal government faces a dire fiscal situation. In fiscal year (FY) 2009, the budget deficit…

Few Surprises in the FY 2011 Defense Budget Request

February 1, 2010 • By Todd Harrison

The Obama administration today unveiled its defense budget request for Fy 2011, which totals $549 billion in discretionary funding for the peacetime costs of the Department of Defense (DoD) and…

Looking Ahead to the FY 2011 Defense Budget

January 26, 2010 • By Todd Harrison

Next week the Obama administration will release the 2010 Quadrennial Defense review (QDR) and FY 2011 defense budget request. This comes as DoD strives to balance the demands of the…