Black Budget Boom

Black Budget Boom: Within the Obama Administration’s $664 billion budget request for the Defense Department in Fiscal 2010, funding for classified programs has crept upward, despite high-profile weapons cancellations pushed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, concludes the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in its annual analysis of the defense budget released Wednesday. DOD’s classified programs account for about $35.8 billion of the Pentagon’s acquisition funding request, a figure that is the second highest in real dollars since Fiscal 1987, according to CSBA. Todd Harrison, CSBA fellow for defense budget studies, told reporters during a briefing in Washington, D.C., that the classified funding has more than doubled in real terms since Fiscal 1995 when it reached its post-Cold War low point. The Air Force’s classified share in Fiscal 2010 amounts to about $29 billion—more than 80 percent of DOD’s total request. In fact, the Air Force’s $17 billion classified procurement request accounts for 42 percent of the service’s total $39.9 billion procurement list and its $12 billion classified earmarks for research and develop activities constitute 43 percent of its total $28 billion R&D proposal, according to CSBA’s data. (CSBA’s classified breakdown and full budget analysis; caution, analysis is large file.)

8/13/2009

Verbatim

Appreciative Host
"I know you're here during a difficult time. You're here through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. I promise you, we will find turkeys."
—Republic of Lithuania Chief of Defence Maj. Gen. Arvydas Pocius, expressing his thanks to airmen of the 493rd Fighter Squadron from RAF Lakenheath, Britain, who on Sept. 1, 2010, began a four-month stint with their F-15s in Lithuania to protect the airspace of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania under NATO's Baltic air policing mission.

Verbatim

Family Momentum
"In many ways, this was what the Year of the Air Force Family was all about—connecting airmen and their families with the resources they need. I have confidence the Air Force will capitalize on this strong momentum in the years ahead by continuing to improve our family support programs and ensuring people know what resources are available."
—Suzie Schwartz, wife of USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, commenting on the accomplishments of the Year of the Air Force Family initiative that concluded in July, in a statement provided to the Daily Report, Aug. 22, 2010.