Half Of The U.S. Defense Budget Goes To Operations

The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, taken from an airplane in January 2008. Wikipedia

Military Times: Report: Day-to-day operation costs eat up half of the defense budget

Operation and maintenance (O&M) costs ate up roughly $251 billion, or 50 percent of the U.S. defense budget, when overseas contingency operations (OCO) were accounted for in 2015, according to a report prepared by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

“Over the past few decades, funding for O&M has increased substantially, accounting for a growing share of DoD’s budget. That growth has occurred even as the number of active-duty military personnel has remained flat or declined,” the report reads.

However, due to the extremely complex nature of O&M funds and the diversity of goods and services it provides, it is not exactly known why costs continue to rise.

Military health care, civilian defense personnel pay and fuel were highlighted as a potential culprit, which “accounts for about 60 percent of the long-term growth in O&M funding,” the CBO explained.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The report is here.