Press Release
☷Army Officials Hold a Press Briefing on President Biden s Fiscal 2025 Army Budget
U.S. Department of Defense ( By Press Release office)
Mar 15,2024
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Hey everyone , thanks for joining us today to talk about the Army ' s budget for fiscal year 2025 . We have Lieutenant Colonel Lindsey Elder , Undersecretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo , and Major General Mark Bennett here to give us the details . Remember , save your questions until the end and keep it to one question and a follow - up . And if you have more questions , we ' ll have a media roundtable tomorrow . Let ' s get started!I ' ll now hand it back to Mr . Camarillo to discuss our recruiting enterprise transformation . Oh , and before we move on , I just wanted to mention that the decrease in RDT&E from FY ' 24 to ' 25 is mainly because some of our major programs have moved from the development phase to production . Two examples in this budget are AMPV and CH - 47 Block II as part of our aviation rebalance . Now , let ' s move on to the next slide . Lastly , our procurement request has increased by 4 . 5% , about $1 billion more than the ' 24 request . This increase is driven by the Army ' s focus on acquiring essential equipment that aligns with our modernization strategy and the National Defense Strategy . We ' re investing in long - range fires , air defense , sensing capabilities , and industrial - based projects for equipment recapitalization and support . This budget submission is going to help us modernize our recruiting efforts and attract the workforce we need for the future . Some reforms announced earlier this year , like creating a military occupational specialty for recruiters , expanding our focus beyond recent high school grads , and improving the way we select and train recruiters , are included in the ' 25 budget . We ' re also expanding the Future Soldier Prep Course , which has been really successful in helping high school graduates meet our recruiting standards . And there ' s a significant increase in recruiting marketing and advertising funding in the ' 25 budget , totaling $1 . 1 billion across all components . So , let ' s chat a bit about end strength in recruiting , a topic I ' ve been covering in these briefs for the past couple of years . In our FY ' 25 submission , we ' re looking at active duty guard and reserve end strength numbers . For the regular Army active component , we ' re looking at 442 , 300 soldiers . For the Army National Guard , it ' s 325 soldiers , and for the Army Reserve , 175 , 800 soldiers . These numbers show that we ' re still working through recruiting challenges . So , in this budget submission , we ' re looking at investing $675 million in recruiting incentives , including bonuses for critical skills and quick shipments , to make sure we have the right people on board . We ' re also focusing on improving soldier housing to retain our talented workforce , with a total investment of $2 . 1 billion over the next five years . This includes funding for barracks projects and sustainment to maintain the quality of our housing . We ' re also investing in barracks managers to ensure maintenance is up to par . Overall , our goal is to address the Army barracks deficit and provide quality housing for all soldiers . On the long - range fire side , I want to highlight our commitment to the joint program with the Navy for the long - range hypersonic weapon , with an investment of $1 million . MAJ GEN . BENNETT: Thanks , sir . Let me just highlight the seven projects , two of which are in the reserves . On the active component side , we have barracks projects at Fort Johnson , Fort Leonard Wood , Joint Base Myer - Henderson Hall , Joint Base Lewis - McChord , and three at Barton ' s Barracks in Germany . For the reserve component , we have one at Parks Reserve Forces Training Center in California and Fort Buchanan in Puerto Rico . So those are the nine projects . And our barracks request has increased by 325 percent from five projects in FY ' 24 to nine this year . Thanks , sir . The second role we play is developing air and missile defense capabilities and providing long - range fires to support the joint fight . For example , we support the Air Force ' s Agile Combat Employment Model and we ' re involved in defending Guam and the homeland . We ' re investing in continued capabilities relevant to the AOR , including $172 million for the development of Patriot and additional funding for PAC - 3 MSE procurement , which General Bennett will discuss . We ' re also investing $167 . 9 million in RDT&E and $657 . 6 million in procurement for the continued development of the IFPC air and missile defense system . Now let ' s talk about the Army ' s role in the Indo - Pacific region . As stated in the National Defense Strategy , our main challenge is the PRC . The Army is dedicated to developing capabilities and capacity to be a crucial part of the Joint Force in that region . Our first role is to contribute to integrated deterrence as part of the Joint Force . In this budget , we ' re allocating $461 . 4 million in FY ' 25 for Pacific Pathways , which is an increase from last year and shows our commitment to building relationships with partners and allies in the region . We also have rotational deployments to the Pacific , utilization of our 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade , and increased use of the JPMRC , the first rotational training center in the Pacific . In the FY ' 25 budget , we have allocated $2 billion for development and testing , $416 million for mid - range capability , and $233 million for procurement of SM - 6 and Tomahawk missiles . Additionally , we are investing $86 . 6 million in Army watercraft for contested logistics . We are also investing $963 million for Patriot missiles and $377 million for the Pathways exercise . In terms of global focus , we are addressing the threat in Europe with a budget of $625 . 6 million and investing in counter - UAS capabilities in CENTCOM . This includes procurement of interceptors and directed energy technologies . Additionally , we are procuring and fielding seven family of counter - UAS systems for ground readiness . In addition , the $395 million includes funding for 103 missiles out of the 230 mentioned earlier , which is part of the overall total and is specifically funded through the EDI initiative . As I mentioned before , readiness is a top priority for us , and this budget fully supports our readiness needs , including funding for CTC rotations , flying hours for aviation , and rotations in the JPMRC in the Pacific . Our budget submission for FY ' 25 reflects the recent Army force structure changes , including the full build - out of multi - domain task forces , IFPC battalions , counter - UAS batteries , and M - SHORAD battalions . These investments represent just a sample of our capability growth , and we are also focusing on unit - level experimentation with new equipment and tactics . Our efforts to address critical munitions in the FY ' 25 base budget have been supported by prior Congressional funding , allowing us to expand production capacity and meet global demand . This budget enables us to buy production quantities of essential systems like PAC - 3 MSC , GMLRS , Javelins , and next - generation Stingers . It might be a bit tough to read from the screen for those here in the room , but basically what we ' re showing is how our production capacity for 155 artillery increases over time . This is achieved through a combination of base appropriations and supplements . We need both to reach our goal of producing 100 , 000 rounds per month . The pending supplemental funding of $1 . 5 billion is crucial for us to achieve this . We also have organic industrial - based investments in our base budget to improve facilities and upgrade systems . So , we ' re taking steps in both areas to enhance our production capacity . Next slide , please . Continuing with the topic of Army modernization , I just want to take a moment to highlight our ongoing progress in delivering on our modernization priorities . In the FY ' 25 submission , there are some noteworthy milestones , including achievements in FY ' 25 . One of the questions asked earlier was about PrSM Inc . 1 missiles , which will be deployed in the fourth quarter of FY ' 25 . This is our next - generation ATACMS replacement , and we will continue to upgrade it to PrSM Inc . 2 and PrSM Inc . 4 , which will give us a range of 900 kilometers . Additionally , the mid - range capability will be equipped in the fourth quarter of FY ' 25 , and we will have the necessary missiles to fully implement the system . Our integrated air and missile defense , which is our IBCS command and control system , will also begin fielding in the fourth quarter of FY ' 25 . These are efforts that have been underway for some time and will provide soldiers with fully functional capabilities in this budget submission . In terms of other investments , we have plans for HMS radios and LCTR radios to replace our SINCGARS system . We also have funding for our XM - 30 effort for ground vehicles . Furthermore , we are looking forward to the multi - year procurement programs for GMLRS and PAC - 3 missiles . There are some shifts in our modernization portfolio , specifically in aviation . We recognize the changes in the battlefield and the availability of lower - cost sensors on UAVs and other platforms . This gives the Army more options for reconnaissance missions . We also had industrial - based concerns with the potential decline and end of production for the UH - 60 Black Hawk and CH - 47 platforms . Therefore , we made some changes within the aviation portfolio , resulting in a shift of approximately $4 . 5 billion over the FYDP . And in terms of critical decisions , starting in FY ' 25 , there won ' t be any more FARA development . It won ' t be included in any future programs . We ' re planning to wrap up the FY ' 24 activities in an orderly manner . We ' ve delayed the ITEP improved turbine engine program to integrate it with the Apache and Black Hawk platforms . We ' re getting rid of the Shadow and Raven UAS systems in favor of developing new ones , and we ' re also ending the development of the UH - 60V model , which was a digital cockpit upgrade done within the Army . So the majority of the funds are being reinvested in Army aviation . We ' re funding a new multiyear production for the UH - 60M model that starts in FY ' 27 to ensure there ' s no gap when the current Black Hawk production contract ends . We ' ve allocated $25 million in FY ' 25 for upgrades in RDT&E for the Black Hawk platform itself to address emerging needs . We plan to continue operating and staffing that platform for many years to come . We ' ll be producing approximately six CH - 47 Block II aircraft per year with a path to full rate production . We ' re also expediting the FTUAS program for future tactical UAS systems , investing $128 million in RDT&E and $149 million in procurement . This includes designing and delivering prototypes for a range of systems , from air launch effects to larger UAV systems , and even more commercial off - the - shelf UAS systems that we want units to experiment with and purchase as technology evolves . I ' d also like to highlight that we ' ll continue FLRAA development throughout this FYDP , and it ' s fully funded within this program . Moving on to accelerating innovation adoption within the Army , there are several investments that are significant for various reasons . For example , we ' re allocating $755 million in this budget submission to expedite Zero Trust , which not only enhances security but also enables audit readiness , cloud migration , and secure cloud services amounting to $244 million . We ' re also funding several efforts to change our technology procurement process to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape . Secretary Wormuth recently announced the release of a new software development policy within the Army , which aligns us with best practices and supports new buying models for software delivery and development . This policy emphasizes iterative development with tight collaboration between the user and development teams , incorporating common sense practices from the private sector . For example , there are these things called authorities to operate . Your ability to use software on a certain network is often limited by where it ' s used . We ' re gonna do more reciprocity on that , as well as recognize testing done by the private sector . We ' re also creating a new contracting center of excellence in Maryland to try out new buying models and different contracting approaches . And just to mention , we ' re always keeping in mind the needs of small businesses . They ' re the ones driving a lot of the innovation the department relies on . We ' ve talked about pilot programs to get small businesses who have received grants to partner with established integrators . We call it Project VISTA , and it ' ll be implemented in FY ' 25 . Building positive command climates is crucial for us , and it ' s one of our top priorities . In this budget , we have funding for pilot programs in installations like Fort Cavazos and Fort Drum , focusing on issues like sexual assault and suicide prevention . We ' re also investing in child care development centers , expanding our health and fitness program , and providing financial counseling for our soldiers . That ' s about it for the slides . Some of you have probably heard me talk about this a lot , and I think Deputy Secretary Hicks mentioned it in her press conference earlier . It ' s really hard to plan for the future when we don ' t have stable and predictable funding . Today , we ' re having this press conference without an appropriation for FY ' 24 , and the Army is relying heavily on the pending supplemental from Congress . There are costs for operations in the supplemental that we really need to relieve the pressures we ' re currently facing under the CR . We also need funding for procurement , personnel , and other expenses , but we can ' t address those until we have both the appropriation for ' 24 and the supplemental . So , I ' m looking forward to answering your questions .
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