The Dismemberment Plan
Even if the Pentagon isn’t tracking with any serious degree of specificity how much it will cost to rebuild the armed services after the bulk of combat troops are pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan; while at the same time funding new programs and transforming to the “modular Army” concept—which seeks to change the Army’s traditional division-based force structure to smaller brigade formations—you can count on the Government Accountability Office to step in to fill the gap.
In a new report , (PDF alert!) the GAO says that based on its own independent analysis of Army cost estimates and cost data, it looks like though the price tag will for “equipping modular units, expanding the force, resetting equipment, and replacing prepositioned equipment sets will be at least $190 billion dollars from fiscal years 2004-2013.”
In case you missed it, that doesn’t include ongoing combat/stabilization missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The total breaks down something like this...
Read the rest at Defense Technology International 's ARES blog.
Pay me now or pay me later.
How much will it cost NOT to keep up with the force modernization etc.?
Posted by:Brian H | April 21, 2008 at 12:48 AM