GovernmentExecutive.com

Air Force leaders have sent a $16.9 billion wish list to Capitol Hill, detailing dozens of aircraft and other programs that did not make the cut for the Pentagon's fiscal 2008 budget request.

The 406-page list of "unfunded priorities" is substantially larger than similar documents submitted to Congress by the other military services this month. It also is $11.3 billion more than the value of the Air Force's unfunded list last year -- another indication that the service, which has traditionally enjoyed the largest share of the Defense budget, is concerned it might not receive enough money in fiscal 2008 to cover all its needs.

Last month, Air Force leaders warned House appropriators that their procurement accounts should not be sacrificed to pay for the needs of the heavily deployed Army and Marine Corps.

Topping the Air Force's fiscal 2008 list is $2.6 billion for several aircraft modernization programs, including a proposal to buy 20 additional C-130J cargo planes, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp. in Marietta, Ga. The aircraft modernization money also would buy five CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, accelerating production on the Bell-Boeing program to "replace capabilities from combat losses in the vertical lift fleet," according to the Air Force document.

The list, sent Friday to House Armed Services ranking member Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., also includes $472.8 million to buy two additional C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, another Boeing plane and a longtime congressional favorite for add-ons in annual spending bills. In addition, the Air Force wants $257.3 million to repair C-17s damaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, and another $280 million to shut down the program's production lines by fiscal 2009.

For its part, the Air Force has declined to seek significantly more its base order for 180 C-17 planes, fearing that would jeopardize its efforts to buy a new fleet of aerial refueling tankers. Even so, the service did ask Congress for seven new C-17s in the unfunded wish list last year, which prompted friendly lawmakers to sweeten the request by giving the Air Force enough money in the fiscal 2007 Defense spending bill to buy planes.

This year's request for two more planes gives lawmakers an opportunity to again up the ante. Behind the generosity has been the reluctance of state and federal lawmakers to accept an end to C-17 production, which would affect 30,000 jobs in 42 states. With the congressional add-on for extra planes in the fiscal 2007 spending bill, Boeing is now prepared to dismantle the planes' assembly lines after completing the Air Force's order in 2009.

In its latest wish list, the Air Force said it would like $250 million to buy force protection equipment for pilots deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, including new body armor, helmets and sensors. And the service wants $587.1 million to make up shortfalls in its depot maintenance accounts, enough to speed maintenance on 50 aircraft and 90 engines.

Additionally, the service says it needs another $6 billion in fiscal 2008 for military construction programs to complete work at hundreds of installations around the country.

COMMENTS

• Robert M absolutely is correct! The military (and all other agencies) cannot apply priorities to the funds they already have! There is no need for any more money for any government agency. The agencies (including the military), simply should apply priorities to the money they already have gotten under false pretenses. The Navy does not need money for new ships; they need to take money from the lower priorities to apply to new ships if that is what is important for them! The Army surely does not need more money, they need to eliminate their lower priorities and fund the new weapons they think they need! Likewise, the Air Force can find all the money they need to do their thing as well. Congress has to start telling government agencies to stop wasting our money on the low priorities and start funding the high priorities with the money they have. If everything is the same priority then nothing is a priority! There simply is not management in government! The objective always is to get more money, not to determine what is of highest and lowest priority. Close the purse and tell the agencies to fund the highest priorities and let the low priorities go unfunded! taxpayer Posted February 23, 2007 8:23 AM
• Why are the Air Force, the Navy and the Army constantly trying to blackmail the Congress into giving them more money? This isn't anything new. Now, it's our troops that are being held hostage. It was the Pentagon's responsibility to be prepared for the hostilities in places like Iraq. But they kept building more infrastructure and funding secret "research" that has yielded little for what it cost. Now it's time for accountability. If money is needed to support our troops, shut down outdated agencies like DLA and the other offices that do little more than create paperwork. Fix the management to first line worker ratio. It's ridiculous. This time, have a BRAC that actually saves money. The military is already over-funded at the cost of our infrastructure and social programs. No more taxpayer dollars! Robert M. Posted February 22, 2007 12:24 PM