The Army is set to grow by tens of thousands of soldiers this year, and to keep up, the service is asking Congress for more money in the form of pay and benefits for soldiers.
President Trump's fiscal year 2018 budget request includes not only a 2.1 percent pay raise, but a 2.9 percent increase in basic allowance for housing and 3.4 percent increase in basic allowance for subsistence, Maj. Gen. Thomas Horlander, the Army's budget director, announced Tuesday.
"This budget request starts to arrest the Army's readiness decline and sets the conditions for improving the current and future readiness of the force," he said.
The $137.2 billion request is up $7 billion from last year's enacted budget, with increases for personnel, operations and maintenance as well as construction and installation housing.
In the face of adding 28,000 soldiers — through recruiting and retention — to the active duty and reserve components, the Army is asking for more funds to support that increase.
The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which reversed a planned end strength drop to 980,000 across the total Army, was a "much appreciated start to ensuring the Army has fully manned formations," Horlander said.
Now, the service is hoping for more funds to cover pay and allowances for soldiers and maintenance for their equipment.
First up is $58 billion for personnel, $2.5 billion over last year's levels.
For vehicle and equipment maintenance, the Army is asking for a boost of $3.2 billion — from $46.2 billion in FY17 to $49.4 billion.
The funding boost is needed "to help bring our equipment to a better level of repair, and by enhancing prepositioned stocks that will improve global response capabilities," Horlander said.
The FY18 budget request is a starting point to revisions by Congress, due over the next several months, before it's signed into law.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
