<* $3 billion for counter-terrorism, force protection and homeland security

Has Bush addressed our pathetic Civil Defense program in his budget? Is this part of what he means by "homeland security?" Given the likelihood of at least a radiological nuke attack, I sure wish we still had our old fully-stocked fallout shelter programs before they were killed off by the Better Red Than Dead crew. The good news: I scored a set of shiny yellow surplus radiation detectors and dosimeters for next to nothing.

* $1.2 billion for continued air patrols over the United States

This used to be standard, and was scrapped in the Age of Missiles. Glad to see it back.

* Missile Defense. $7.8 billion for a broad-based research, development, testing, and procurement effort aimed at deployment of layered missile defenses as soon as feasible and $815 million for space-based sensors that can detect missile attacks

About friggin' time, too.

* Ground Forces Transformation. $812 million to procure 332 Interim Armored Vehicles, $707 million to advance the Future Combat System, and $911 million for ongoing development of the Comanche reconnaissance helicopter



* SSGN Conversion. $1 billion to begin conversion of four Trident ballistic missile submarines to submarines each capable of carrying more than 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles and a contingent of special operations forces

* Unmanned vehicles. $1 billion to increase the development and procurement of Global Hawk, Predator, and other unmanned vehicles

* DD(X). $961 million to develop revolutionary stealth, propulsion, and manning technologies for a new family of surface combatants

* Precision munitions. $54 million to develop the Small Diameter Bomb, $146 million for the Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile, and $1.1 billion for a higher rate of production for the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Laser Guided Bombs



All of these are great ideas. First I'd heard about the sub conversion. All of these will make Afghanistan-style, minimum-collateral-damage campaigns easier.

* Space programs. $920 million to continue development of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency Satellite Communications System, $91 million for development of the Space Based Radar, and $88 million for advancing promising space control initiatives

Yeah! Especially the "advancing promising space control initiatives." There's a lot of cool stuff there.

* V-22. $2 billion for a restructured V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft program including $497 million to correct technical problems and to conduct rigorous flight tests

Not too sure of the value of the V-22. Any other opinions from military-types?

* Science and Technology (S&T). $9.9 billion, 2.7 percent of the DoD topline

Wonder what comes under this category. Could be anything.

* A 4.1% increase in military basic pay. The Administration also is exploring options for additional pay raises for mid-grade officers and non-commissioned officers



* For personnel living in private housing, a reduction in out-of-pocket housing costs from 11.3% to 7.5%

* $4.2 billion for Family Housing accounts to keep on track to eliminating most inadequate housing by 2007, three years sooner than previously planned



Again, about friggin' time.

* Over $9 billion in savings from acquisition program changes, management improvements, and other initiatives; these savings were used to fund transformation and other pressing requirements



* Progress toward a targeted 15% reduction in headquarters staff.

* Continued efforts to develop, by 2003, a DoD-wide financial management enterprise architecture and transition plan to consolidate and modernize financial and non-financial business processes/systems



Efforts to cut waste in defense spending have not been all that successful in the past. I hope Bush and his administration concentrate on this area a bit.