By Greg Grant
The high cost of maintaining an all-volunteer military during wartime is reflected in the $515.4 billion defense budget request the Bush administration sent to Congress this week, a 7.5 percent increase over last year's budget. Nearly 30 percent of the request, $149.4 billion, is designated for military pay and health care.
Along with the base budget request, the administration also requested $70 billion in an emergency bridge fund for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. A more detailed request for additional war funding will be sent to Congress this spring, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates at a Pentagon briefing. Last year, the administration requested $189.3 billion for the wars.
It has been widely noted that the fiscal 2009 request is the largest since the peak years of World War II. It reflects the increased costs of maintaining a large volunteer force during a protracted war.
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