Army growth plans may exceed cost estimate

The cost of the Army's plans to grow its active-duty and reserve ranks by nearly 75,000 troops over the next several years could exceed the $70.2 billion the service expects to spend through fiscal 2013 to augment the force, congressional investigators concluded in a report released Tuesday.

The Army's cost estimates are "not comprehensive and may be somewhat understated," according to the GAO report, which urges the Defense Department to provide more thorough cost information to Capitol Hill by March 30.

The cost estimate does not include $2.5 billion needed to cover the costs of healthcare and education programs for the new troops, according to GAO. The Army's projections also may underestimate the number of civilian personnel needed to support the larger military force.

In addition, the projections do not take into consideration Army Chief of Staff George Casey's intention to accelerate recruiting efforts for the active-duty Army and Army National Guard, in the hopes of expanding the force by 2010.

Expediting the effort would put thousands of personnel on the payroll sooner than originally planned, may require funding boosts for recruiting and retention incentives and could force the Defense Department to buy equipment for the new troops faster than anticipated, GAO concluded.

"The Army has not developed a transparent and comprehensive funding plan for its Grow the Force initiative that allows decision makers to understand the full magnitude of the costs and weigh competing priorities," the report says. "There is a lack of transparency in how the Army developed the cost estimates that served as the basis for the $70.2 billion funding plan."

Pentagon officials agreed with GAO's recommendation to provide Congress more detailed cost estimates by March, according to the department's response to the report. They also agreed that the Army should maintain a "transparent audit trail" on the funding plan.