Pentagon drops plan to shift funds from armored vehicle program

The Defense Department sent a revised $1.1 billion budget reprogramming request to the Armed Services committees late last week, amid concerns on Capitol Hill that the original document would have slashed funding for critical force-protection programs.

Like the original request, the revision paper would help fund high-priority Army programs related to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the new document omits proposals to cut more than $300 million from efforts to armor and produce new Humvee tactical vehicles used during combat patrols.

"It just wasn't palatable up here [and there] was an indication that we'd likely deny these things," said a congressional aide with knowledge of defense issues. The two proposals "were just nuclear."

Over the last several years, lawmakers have poured several billion dollars into force-protection programs, which include armor kits for the lightweight Humvees, more effective body armor for ground troops and efforts to shield military installations from attack.

Instead of requesting a transfer of $1.4 billion in funding, the Pentagon now is asking to move $1.1 billion out of the Army's fiscal 2005 accounts.

"There will be no break in [Humvee] production if we do it this way," a senior military official said Monday.

The revised request would shift $621.8 billion set aside for weapons procurement and development in the 2005 defense authorization bill into personnel and operations accounts. It also would move $500.5 billion earmarked for procurement in supplemental spending bills to pay for operations and personnel.

The reprogrammed money is intended to pay for "higher priority items," including support operations at U.S. bases and efforts to repair and overhaul Stryker combat vehicles returning to the United States from theaters of operations.

In addition, the reprogramming request would fund efforts to provide security to contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly linguists hired to translate for soldiers.

Also, the request sets aside $130 million to cover increased pay and financial incentives offered to enlistees. Earlier this year, the Defense Department requested money to be transferred out of those accounts because of a projected surplus.

"Since that time, reenlistment costs have increased due to increased numbers of incentive payments," according to the request. "Also, recruitment costs have increased since mid-year."

Additionally, the Army wants to set aside $22.4 million to renovate facilities at Fort Carson, Colo., which will house a brigade of soldiers returning from Iraq. Those soldiers initially were stationed in South Korea.

Moving the soldiers back from the Korean peninsula is "part of the Army plan to increase the number of units available for deployment rotation," the document states.

Money for those efforts will come from several different accounts, including $123 million that would buy 60 new Stryker vehicles. The Army recommends delaying contract awards for those vehicles several months until February 2006.

Another source of funding is the service's new light utility helicopter program. The reprogramming request would strip $20.9 million from those procurement accounts.

The reprogramming request also would take money from several overhauls and modifications for military equipment planned this year at various depots. In each case, the Army states that it will make up that funding in future budget submissions.

The two requests are essentially identical, except the latter makes no mention of Humvees.

In its Sept. 7 reprogramming request, the Army planned to take $152 million set aside to purchase add-on armor kits that would not have been installed on vehicles until November 2006.

Meanwhile, another $155 million would have been redirected from funds intended to purchase new Humvees. According to the original reprogramming request, new contract awards for Humvees could have been delayed until FY06 without any break in production.