Military Construction: A Snapshot of the President’s FY2013 Appropriations Request

Daniel H. Else
Specialist in National Defense

On February 13, 2012, President Barack Obama forwarded his Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget request to Congress, including $11.2 billion for military construction appropriations. The military construction appropriation, which since the 109th Congress has been combined with appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs and a number of small, related agencies, has funded the building of new infrastructure worldwide for the operational and training use active and reserve armed forces, the construction and operation of housing for service members and their families, and facilities for the demilitarization of obsolete chemical munitions, as required by international treaty obligations. It has also paid the U.S. contribution to the common infrastructure fund for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the environmental remediation of defense real property declared surplus since 1988 under the various rounds of base closures and realignments, commonly referred to as BRAC.

The President’s request reflects some marked changes from appropriations requested in recent years, likely reflecting decisions being made within the Pentagon on the shape and structure of the future military force. The Department of Defense (DOD) is undergoing a review of its strategy for national defense and plans to reduce force end strength over the next several years. Construction funding requested for active duty forces aggregates to $7.7 billion, down from the $10.9 billion requested for FY2012 and $9.8 billion appropriated for that year. Reserve component construction (including the Army and Air National Guards) requested is reduced from $1.2 billion for FY2012 to $1.0 billion for FY2013. The request for military family housing remains steady at $1.7 billion, and funding requested for BRAC has shrunk from $582 million to $476 million, reflecting the end of the implementation period for the 2005 BRAC round of base closures and realignments in September 2011.


Date of Report: February 28, 2012
Number of Pages: 16
Order Number: R42376
Price: $19.95

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