November 9, 2005: The U.S. Army, which is doing the bulk of the fighting, and dying, in the war on terror, is looking to make some long term changes in how much money they get for buying new equipment. This is because, over the last few generations, the army has received a smaller and smaller portion of the money allocated for acquisition. Currently, the army gets 25 percent of the defense budget, but only 15 percent of the money allocated for procurement of new weapons and equipment. The army has long believed that this was unfair. But during the Cold War, the air force and navy had more compelling arguments for needing more money for high tech systems. Now the army believes it has made its case for more bucks to buy complex weapons and other gear. The army has made this case by putting such stuff to use in Iraq and Afghanistan. Moreover, the defense budget is expected to shrink over the next few years, meaning even more fierce competition over procurement dollars. The army believes that now is the best time to make its case, while a war is raging, and the army is doing most of the fighting.
