National security think tank the Stimson Center presented a 27-point budget plan for the Department of Defense this week, Military Times reports. The guideline will help the DoD stay within its financial limits set by the 2011 Budget Control Act, cutting roughly $50 billion from the annual defense budget through a new defense strategy called "Strategic Agility."
The report recommends saving $22.4 billion in management reforms by eliminating excess civilian and military personnel at federal defense agencies, limiting centralized training, cutting funding for inessential commissaries and exchanges, and further reforms to veterans benefits.
Changes in force structure, including cuts to active-duty troops, will result in a savings of $24.1 billion, according to the report. An additional $5.7 billion can also be shaved off from modernization costs, such as slowing the purchases of ballistic submarines and F-35s and halting CONUS missile defenses. However, the report states that the long-range strike bomber program can remain untouched.
According to the report, this new budget plan builds on several legacies of the U.S. military, including its superiority in air and naval power and the strength of its special operations and ground forces.
"We hope that consensus can show there is a way to move forward," the report states.