WASHINGTON — A group of 38 defense analysts and former US Department of Defense officials from across the ideological spectrum are calling for "bold action" on the Pentagon's budget.
In an open letter posted Wednesday on a number of websites, the group laid out its goal for major cuts to the military's infrastructure and civilian workforce to coincide with a modernization of benefits.
"Too much of the defense budget is currently consumed by institutional inefficiencies, some of which are mandated by law," the authors wrote. "This is leaving a smaller share of the budget to pay for the manning, training and equipping of our armed forces that make the US military without peer. Now is the time to begin the hard but necessary work to close excess bases, right-size the civilian workforce, and give future service members more value in a modern pay and benefits package."
The letter is signed by experts from ideological think tanks in the conservative American Enterprise Institute and liberal Center for American Progress; the centrist Third Way; and national security-focused groups in the Center for New American Security, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Foreign Policy Initiative, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, National Security Network and the Truman National Security Project.
The call — a follow-up to a 2013 letter with many of the same signees — comes as the House debates its markup for the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act.
While well-intentioned, the letter is unlikely to make much of an impact. Congress has shown little willingness to remove infrastructure through a BRAC Base Realignment and Closure process, despite the potential savings. And while there have been initiatives launched on reforms of military benefits and shrinking the civilian workforce, progress has been slow on those developments.
Still, it is an impressive show of bipartisan agreement on the Pentagon's budget.
"Excess facilities, an oversized civilian workforce, and outdated military compensation and benefits models all jeopardize the combat power these investments are intended to support," the authors conclude. "Failure to pursue these changes could come at great cost, increasing the chance that our service men and women will be unprepared for future challenges. It is past time for bold action."
Email: amehta@defensenews.com
Twitter: @AaronMehta
Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.
