Analysis / Budget, Forces

U.S. Military Forces in FY 2018

The Department of Defense (DOD) faces a strategic choice: whether to focus on modernization for high-tech conflicts with China and Russia or expand forces and improve readiness to meet a superpower’s commitments for ongoing conflicts and crisis response. In their FY 2018 budgets, the services all complain that they are too small for the demands being put on them and hedge toward expanding forces and readiness. In the new DOD strategy being developed for 2019 and beyond, the services hope to pursue all three goals—expand forces, improve readiness, and increase modernization—but the fiscal future is highly uncertain, and they will likely have to make difficult trade-offs.

Analysis / Budget, Reform

Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Roundtable

CSIS hosted a roundtable discussion on the prospects for rationalizing the Department of Defense’s real property assets in a strategic context. These experts from across the political spectrum and with widely divergent views on national security nevertheless agreed that some process for base closure and realignment was needed. They also discussed how any future base closure and realignment process needed to learn from the past, to be fair to the local communities, and to accommodate congressional concerns.

Opinion / Forces

Making the Most of Special Operations Forces

Before putting special operators in harm’s way, the makers of policy and strategy must give great thought to the factors that determine tactical and strategic outcomes. With the demand for special operations forces exceeding the supply, the new administration must determine where scarce special operations personnel can best be employed, and where other U.S. and allied capabilities can most profitably shoulder the burden.

Analysis / Reform, Strategy

Use a Strategic Review to Drive Change

Given the various foreign policy and national security challenges, it will be critical that the new administration develop a strategic approach for their policy objectives. Strategy will help the new administration achieve goals, drive change, and determine which issues may benefit from continuity. This analysis provides recommended steps for an effective review process to help develop a strategy for national security challenges.

U.S. Air National Guard photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher S. Muncy: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usairforce/29396127562/
Analysis / Budget

The Enduring Dilemma of Overseas Contingency Operations Funding

Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding poses challenges for the new administration as they prepare its FY 2018 budget request. OCO funding is intended for war-related activities that cannot be forecasted. However, it has become a convenient loophole for defense spending since it is not restricted by the Budget Control Act (BCA) budget caps. This analysis address the challenges presented by OCO funding and possible options for handling base budget activities in OCO.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Lauren Falk 5th MEB COMCAM: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/2591254/eager-lion-2016-air-support-training
Analysis / Reform

Implementing Security Cooperation Reform to Maximize U.S. Competitiveness Abroad

Security cooperation enables the United States to deepen its global alliances and partnerships in pursuit of common security objectives. It will be critical to ensure FY17 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) reform provisions retains the U.S. competitive advantage globally through its network of alliances and partnerships. This analysis provides recommendations for the Trump administration to consider during security cooperation reform.

By U.S. Navy photo by Brian Nokell, via Wikimedia Commons
Analysis / Reform

Reforming the Civilian Workforce: Two Carrots and Two Sticks

President-elect Donald Trump has proposed two goals for the federal government’s civilian workforce: making it smaller and increasing its quality. How can the administration use both carrots and sticks to achieve its goal of reducing the civilian workforce without going to war without its own work force? This analysis addresses this question through the lens of the civilian workforce in the Department of Defense to propose recommended changes.