March 07, 2022
Pentagon needs a six-pillar foundation
The defense budgeting system is more reflective of Soviet-era bureaucratic structures than the vibrant U.S. capitalist model. As illuminated in multiple studies and papers, this antiquated budget system has produced a Joint Force that is rapidly losing its military advantage to advanced peer rivals like China and Russia. More specifically, the current Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) system isn’t timely, strategically aligned, responsive, or transparent.
Currently, it takes up to three years for DOD to generate the annual defense budget and for Congress to review and appropriate funding. This prevents DOD from focusing investments on new priorities, countering emerging threats, or taking advantage of innovative technologies.
The current PPBE system attempts to reconcile Combatant Command “fight tonight” needs with strategic, longer-term investments — but more often fails at both.
Defense budgets are often misaligned with strategy, with readiness and capacity being prioritized over much needed modernization.
The system constrains DOD’s ability to maximize resources and prevent the “valley of death” syndrome by requiring baselined acquisition programs, over-prescribing discrete efforts, using regimented research budget activities, employing multiple appropriations, and applying numerous procurement restrictions.
And finally, it incentivizes budgetary processes that are overly opaque, such as unnecessarily classifying information necessary for decision-making. And DOD communicates with Congress using heavily scripted testimony, responses, and briefings — often to the great frustration of congressional staffs.
Read the full article from The Hill.
More from CNAS
-
It’s Time for a True Industrial Strategy for American National Security
For an industrial strategy to work, the president must make it a White House priority that pulls together all elements of national power....
By Becca Wasser & Mara Rudman
-
Sharper: Allies and Partners
Amid intensifying geopolitical challenges, the United States is finding new ways to address security issues by cultivating and strengthening alliances and partnerships. How ca...
By Gwendolyn Nowaczyk & Charles Horn
-
How We Survive Ep 5: Wargames
Dr. Ed McGrady, Adjunct Senior Fellow for the Defense Program at CNAS, joins the show to discuss how climate began to factor into humanitarian crisis war games as far back as ...
By Dr. ED McGrady
-
Wars Are Not Accidents
The road to conflict is an action-reaction process. Leaders decide whether and how to respond to a rival’s moves, and they often search for ways to lower the temperature. Esca...
By Erik Lin-Greenberg