The evolution of the FY 1996 budget: an analysis of the Republican revolution's impact on defense spending and military readiness

Abstract

Steadily declining defense budgets and the uncertainty associated with the end of the Cold War have stirred a great debate on the proper budgetary mix of men and material required to achieve military readiness under conditions of fiscal restraint. Many members of Congress and the DoD believe that the structural readiness of the today's military has been sacrificed to maintain short term operational readiness. The November 1994 election of the first Republican-controlled Congress in 40 years promised to significantly impact the declining defense budget and address the issue of military readiness. This thesis concludes that while the deficiencies in operational readiness of today's armed forces are not a serious problem, the long term structural readiness of the armed forces is in jeopardy. While the Republicans addressed the long term problem at the margins by increasing the FY96 investment accounts, a solution which achieves sustainable military readiness requires a reexamination of America's military requirements and the amount of resources it is willing to devote to those requirements.