Army wants 17,000 more troops among other wish list items
The Army has sent a nearly $12.7 billion “wish list” to Congress this week that asks for 17,000 additional troops, $2.3 billion for more missiles and ammunition and $4.9 billion for more aircraft and vehicles.
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The document – a list of unfunded weapons, equipment, troops, maintenance and development activities the Army wants for fiscal year 2018 but that wasn’t included in the service’s $166 billion budget request last month – also asks for $3.1 billion to pay for training, sustaining, housing and equipping the extra troops.
The unfunded priorities list obtained by The Hill breaks the extra soldiers down into 10,000 troops for the active Army, 4,000 for the Army National Guard and 3,000 for the Army Reserve.
The Army’s current fiscal year 2018 request funds a total force of 1,018,000.
The list also includes $2.3 billion for more munitions to replenish stockpile shortages, including 75 Army Tactical Missile System missiles, 147 Patriot Missile Segment Enhancement missiles and guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System rockets.The service also wants a 66 percent increase in Guided Multiple-Launch Rocket System production “to meet critical combat requirements and war reserves,” according to the document.
In addition, the Army wants $4.9 billion in modernization funding for nine AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, three UH-60V Black Hawk utility helicopters, three recapitalized Black Hawks and nine new CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopters.
The modernization dollars would also fund 33 recapitalized M2A4 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 29 Abrams tanks and 35 Hercules Recovery Vehicles.
The Army would also accelerate a replacement radiation detection capability, develop assured positioning, navigation and timing for GPS-denied environments and buy hardware for route-clearance Medium Mine Protected Vehicles.
In addition, the service wants $1.8 billion for war-fighter readiness and $579.1 million for infrastructure projects, including six reserve force readiness centers, and three new barracks in Hawaii, Kansas and Idaho.
Congress asks for unfunded lists from each military service every year. The documents help guide lawmakers as they work through the budget requests and form policy and spending bills.
The Navy sent its list to lawmakers on May 30 and the Coast Guard will send its list by the end of June.
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