John Roth, a Defense Department budget official who performs comptroller duties, has said the White House’s defense budget proposal for fiscal 2018 intends to rebuild the U.S. armed forces, build on “near-term readiness†efforts in fiscal 2017 and balance future requirements and current operations, DoD News reported Tuesday.
Roth told reporters Tuesday at the Pentagon that DoD aims to create a “bigger, more lethal force†by fiscal year 2019 by leveraging the developments to be made in FYs 2017 and 2018.
He called for a reversal of defense sequestration to help advance DoD’s strategy to re-establish military readiness.
President Donald Trump’s proposed defense base budget of $574.5 billion exceeds the budget cap by $52 billion under the Budget Control Act of 2011.
Roth said DoD should now start the analysis process to facilitate a new round of base closures and realignments by 2021.
Army Lt. Gen. Anthony Ierardi, director of force structure, resources and assessment of the Joint Staff, joined Roth at the news briefing.
