AIP FYI #45: DOD S&T Chiefs Voice Support for 3% Spending Target

At a March 31 hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and
Capabilities, a senior Defense Department official and commanders from the
Air Force, Army, and Navy voiced support for the future allocation of 3% of
the Defense Department’s budget to science and technology programs. The
subcommittee’s senators also expressed strong support for S&T, although they
gave no indication about the FY 2004 authorization levels for the 6.1, 6.2,
and 6.3 programs.

Subcommittee chairman Pat Robert (R-KS) opened the two-hour hearing by
declaring that S&T is “critical” to the nation’s defense, even though is but
a small slice of the overall DOD budget. The pay off from such investments
is tenfold, he stated, resulting in “awesome” military superiority. The
challenge, Roberts said, was in rapidly moving laboratory-developed
technologies to the battlefield.

Ranking Minority Member Jack Reed’s (D-RI) remarks were similarly
supportive. He spoke of the need to “faithfully invest a small but stable”
amount of money in the S&T program, and remarked that the Bush
Administration’s FY 2004 request of 2.69% of the total defense budget for
S&T programs fell short of the 3% mark. Long-term projections for FY 2009
would result in an even lower spending level of 2.4%, he said.

The 3% target was in the 2001 “Quadrennial Defense Review”(see
http://www.aip.org/enews/fyi/2001/130.html). Congress appropriated 3.2%
of the defense budget for the S&T programs for this year.

The FY 2004 Bush Administration request for the three programs is $10,232
million, which is a 4.9% reduction from the current budget of $10,763
million. Michael Wynne, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and
Technology) addressed the overall funding level in both his written and oral
testimony. The DOD S&T request is 2.69% of the total DOD request, he said,
characterizing this as “a very good budget request.” Noting that the
administration has increased the budget request by almost 25% in just two
years, Wynne cautioned that “simply adding money to the S&T accounts will
not, by itself, ensure transformation.”

Each of the three commanders (General Paul J. Kern, USA; General Lester L.
Lyles, USAF; and Vice Admiral Joseph W. Dyer, USN) outlined in their written
and oral testimony the importance of S&T to the nation’s defense. All
expressed concern about future shortfalls in the science and engineering
workforce, as did Wynne. Many cited nanotechnology as an emerging force in
the transformation of the nation’s military.

In answer to a question from Reed about the 3% funding goal, each of the
witnesses described their support for it as a worthy benchmark. Dyer added
a caveat: the challenge of being able to afford within budget constraints
everything that needed to be done. Later expanding his remarks, he told the
senators that it was difficult to ascertain how much money was enough,
adding that the S&T program must be attractive to retain the workforce.
Lyles commented that achieving the 3% goal immediately would be difficult,
saying it would be necessary to prioritize where dollars are to be spent.
He spoke of the need to leverage available funding.

Also attending the hearing were Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Senator
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). They discussed the
importance of S&T to national defense, as well as stability in annual
funding and overall funding levels. Wynne characterized the S&T funding
process as cyclic: “in a given year it can be a little down or a little up.”
Some of the commanders spoke of previous shortfalls in procurement, and how
the emphasis on spending over the next few years will be on transforming the
military.

Roberts concluded the hearing by asking about hiring procedures, and the
ability of the services to track the development of foreign research. His
final request to the witnesses was that they provide him with a list of
unfunded S&T priorities.

Richard M. Jones

Media and Government Relations Division

The American Institute of Physics

fyi@aip.org

(301) 209-3094

If you no longer wish to receive this content alert for each issue, please
send a blank e-mail to fyi-signoff-request@listserv.aip.org.