House panel to apply 'lessons learned' in Iraq to defense procurement

Several "lessons learned" from the war against Iraq will guide the House Armed Services Committee when it meets soon after the spring recess to draft the fiscal 2004 defense budget, Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said Thursday. Certain weapons procurement accounts need to be increased well beyond the Bush administration's request, and more personnel need to be added to the active-duty military services, he said.

"The president's program is a recommendation, but we can change some priorities," Hunter said in an interview. His subcommittee chairmen are already "scrubbing" the administration's requested $380 billion defense budget to find savings that would free up more money for "modernization," especially the procurement of cutting-edge weapons technology, stealthy bombers and tanks, he said. "We're working on a package," he said, declining to specify any figures his group has in mind. "There's some shaping we can do."

The U.S. military's swift advance toward Baghdad through the use of massive airpower in conjunction with heavy tanks and special operations forces affirmed what Hunter called his own preference for spending more on stealthy, "deep-strike" capabilities as well as "heavy armor." He said he wants to spend more to stockpile plenty of precision munitions such as the bunker-busting Joint Direct Attack Munition, the satellite-guided bomb used recently to attack Iraqi leaders.

Two other priorities, Hunter added, are airborne-refueling tankers, which allow attack planes to complete long-range missions, and airlift capability to enable the rapid deployment of forces anywhere in the world. He mentioned in particular the modified Boeing 767 tankers, 100 of which may be leased soon by the Air Force, and the Boeing C-17 cargo plane that has seen considerable action in Iraq.

The Bush administration wants to buy 11 more C-17s at a cost of $3.6 billion in 2004, the third year of a four-year program to acquire a fleet of 60 planes. "We're trying to look at the industrial base now and get a handle on whether we can do more," Hunter said.

Pointing to the critical role of stealth aircraft in the war, Hunter raised the possibility of directing the Pentagon to produce a lower-cost version of the radar-evading B-2 bomber to improve the military's ability to strike deep in enemy territory.

Given the demanding, high-tempo operations over Iraq and the constant need to be ready for other potential conflicts, the bomber fleet needs to be bigger, he said.

Hunter said he wants to add another 50 bombers like the B-2 or a variant to enhance the Air Force's deep-strike capability. The Air Force now has 21 B-2 bombers in the fleet and plans to retire 31 of its older, less stealthy B-1B bombers, reducing the overall size of its bomber force, which also includes aging B-52s.

"I like armor," he added, saying he would like to add "a couple more" armored divisions to the Army. "I think there's a new appreciation for heavy armor [from] this operation [in Iraq]. We were able to move great distances at rapid speed, with low casualties and enormous firepower -- with heavy armor. And I think that's generated a new appreciation -- it certainly has for me -- for heavy armor."

About the size of the active-duty military, he declared he would "like to see a larger force," considering that long deployments in the war zone, especially among reservists, are likely to lead to a sharp drop in re-enlistments.

But he suggested that high personnel, operations and maintenance expenses might militate against a big increase in the 2004 budget. The Navy is already building ships that require smaller crews and cruise missiles that cost a fraction of the price of a Tomahawk, enabling the Navy to project more power, but at a smaller cost, Hunter noted.

Last year, the House committee tried to add 12,552 slots to the active-duty forces, but Defense Secretary Rumsfeld resisted, citing the long-term expense. After the CBO determined that the increase would cost more than $1 billion a year, the lawmakers agreed to allow Rumsfeld to increase active-duty forces by up to 3 percent.

The House Armed Services subcommittees have tentatively scheduled markup sessions for their portion of the defense budget from April 29-May 6, with Hunter convening the full committee session on May 7, a committee spokesman said Thursday.