GAO-08-354R Force Structure
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
January 18, 2008
Congressional Committees
Subject: Force Structure — Need for Greater Transparency for the Army’s Grow the
Force Initiative Funding Plan
In January 2007, the Secretary of Defense announced an initiative to expand the Army
from a total of 1,037,000 to 1,112,000 active and reserve soldiers by fiscal year 2013—
an increase of 74,200 military personnel—in order to meet increasin
g strategic
demands and to help reduce stress on the force. This planned expansion includes
building six additional active modular brigade combat teams and additional modular
support units,
1
which will require a substantial increase in funding for personnel,
equipment, and infrastructure. Currently, the Army estimates this expansion may
require about $70 billion in increased funding through fiscal year 2013 and a
significant amount in annual funding thereafter to sustain the expanded Army. The
President’s fiscal year 2008 budget request contained $7.7 billion for Department of
the Army funding related to the Grow the Force initiative.
During the course of our review of Army modularity as required by the John Warner
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007,
2
we analyzed the $70.2
billion Grow the Force initiative funding plan. We are submitting this letter to you at
this time to provide the results of our analysis for your consideration as your
committees evaluate DOD’s fiscal year 2009 defense budget submission, which will
request additional funding to grow the force. Specifically, we examined the
supporting documentation and comprehensiveness of the $70.2 billion funding plan.
We will issue a separate report in spring 2008 in response to the authorization act’s
requirement for GAO to report on the Army’s transformation to the modular force in
fiscal year 2008. We will also be reporting on the Army’s planning and budgeting
process for Grow the Force facilities.
3
To assess the Army’s supporting documentation for its funding plan to Grow the
Force, we analyzed Army and Department of Defense (DOD) budget materials and
discussed the key assumptions and cost estimating methodology used to develop the
1
The modular support units are the following: two combat support brigades, one fires brigade, one air
defense brigade, one engineer brigade, and two sustainment brigades.
2
Pub. L. No. 109-364, § 323 (2006).
3
H.R. Rep. No. 110-186, (2007) at 12.
