Pentagon releases 2013 budget, military pay not affected

2/14/2012

The Pentagon released its 2013 budget plan on Monday and although it calls for a 6 percent reduction in overall spending, officials are quick to point out that it will not negatively affect active duty troops. Instead, the focus will mainly be on decreasing hardware purchases as the war in Afghanistan winds down, Military Times reports.

The proposed $525 billion budget is about 1 percent lower than last year and takes into account the significantly lower troops levels overseas. In addition to the ending of the Iraq war, the Pentagon expects troop levels in Afghanistan to be at around 68,000 in the coming year - down from the 90,000 currently stationed in the country.

"We did a strategy review first and then derived the budget from the strategy," Ashton Carter, deputy defense secretary, told Bloomberg. "Somebody who wants to make a change needs to explain how that's consistent with the strategy."

There had been some concern over whether military pay would be affected, but officials say that troops can still expect a 1.7 percent pay raise in 2013.