Family housing, military construction, and other funding in the base defense budget grew at a real annual rate of 5.9 percent over the past decade to $26 billion in FY 2010. Much of this growth was due to the base realignment and closure process, which peaked at $9 billion in funding in FY 2009. Base realignment and Closure (BRAC)-related funding declined in FY 2010, and FY 2011 is expected to be the final year of funding. The budget for family housing also declined in FY 2010, but much of the apparent drop may be due to the stimulus bill shifting projects that would have been funded in FY 2010 to FY 2009.
Of the $4.8 trillion in total discretionary budget authority the Department of Defense received from FY 2000 to FY 2009, 21 percent ($1.02 trillion) was appropriated for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over the past six years, spending in Afghanistan has averaged $1.1 million per troop per year. Direct spending on the troops, which includes only the additional pay, benefits,and healthcare service members receive from being deployed, accounts for about $66,000 of the cost per troop.
One of the main issues that demands attention in the upcoming defense budget is resolving the disconnect between the plans and programs DoD has put forward over the past decade and the resources available to support these programs in the long run. In some respects, this is a trade between funding continued increases in benefits and pay for military personnel—much of which accrues to retirees—and funding the weapon systems troops need for the conflicts they are in today and must be prepared for in the future. If personnel-related costs in the base budget continue growing at the same rate as over the past ten years—and there are many reasons to believe this may be the case—and the top-line budget remains flat or grows only slightly above inflation,there will be less funding available for acquisitions and DoD will be forced to rethink many of its long-term procurements.