The administration has submitted an overseas contingency operations spending plan requesting Congress to allot the Defense and State departments a total of $60 billion in 2015 for global contingencies, Defense News reported Wednesday.Marcus Weisgerber writes the amount is less than the $85 billion OCO budget approved for 2014 and the $79 billion placeholder amount the Pentagon originally indicated.
The spending request includes military contingency operations in Afghanistan, a $5 billion combined counterterrorism fund for both DoD and State and $1 billion for U.S. military activities in Europe, the report said.
According to Derek Chollet, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, the $1 billion would likely fund military exercises and infrastructure projects.
Weisgerber reports the submitted OCO plan was expected to indicate little information on the spending particulars, but Chollet said more details will be submitted soon to Congress.
