By Jim Garamone, DoD News, Defense Media Activity
MADRID -- For the
first time in a long time, the Defense Department entered the fiscal year with
a budget, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said troops should be
extremely pleased with the development.
“What the troops have seen is a commitment from the
executive and legislative branches of government to give them the wherewithal
to do their jobs,” Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford said during an interview with
reporters traveling with him.
President Donald J. Trump signed the appropriations bill on
Friday meaning the Defense Department starts fiscal year 2019 with money in the
bank. The president signed the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization
Act in August. Both bills must be passed before DOD can operate.
Defense leaders had made the case for the budget through
“identifying the challenges we face and also the demonstrated performance of
our men and women in uniform every day,” Dunford said. Congress understood that
the U.S. military needs these capabilities, “and we can be entrusted to make
good use of them.”
His message to Congress and the American people this year is
for an appropriate, sustained level of funding. “It took us years to get into
this problem and you don’t spend money efficiently, you don’t spend money as
good steward, if you lurch from year to year,” he said. “You can’t plan a
program and develop capabilities over time.”
Predictability will allow the department to build effective
partnerships with industry. This will allow companies to deliver capabilities
on time and on cost.
“We need to have predictability to properly prioritize what
we are going to invest in,” he said. “Every year, no matter how big the budget
is, you have to make choices. We are much better at making choices if we are
informed by a three-to five-year look ahead and predict what level of funding
we will have.”
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