Armed Forces News

The Military Officers Association of America has disputed senior Defense leaders who assert that military personnel costs today are too high, and MOAA used Defense statistics to back it up. For example, DoD personnel budgets for 2003 through 2005 represent about 24.5 percent of the Defense budget, which falls near the middle of the road for the last 30 years. The statistics show that, although personnel costs are not at the 21 percent low of 1981, they are significantly lower than in 1976 (26.5 percent), 1986 (25.8 percent), and 1996 (26.2 percent). Furthermore, procurement spending has been slashed over the last decade, which means that the personnel share went up, said a MOAA official. However, as a percentage of the defense-budget-minus-procurement, today’s 30 percent share for people is well below historical marks of 34 percent in 1976, 46 percent in 1986, and 37 percent in 1991. For details, visit http://www.moaa.org/Legislative/budget.asp.