The Army is drafting plans to spend the additional money Congress appears poised to grant several ground vehicle programs as part of an industrial base support measure in fiscal year 2015, with intentions to finalize and submit the plan to lawmakers “very quickly,” the principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology told Defense Daily.

Lt. Gen. Michael E. Williamson, who spoke at an Association of the United States Army breakfast on Thursday, said after the event that he was pleased Congress recognized the need to address industrial base concerns as the second of the United States’ two wars winds down, military procurement drops and retrofit and repairs will level off and decline in the next few years post-Afghanistan.

Lt.. Gen. Michael Williamson, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. Photo: U.S. Army
Lt.. Gen. Michael Williamson, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. Photo: U.S. Army

“I think Congress has done the absolute right thing about putting money into these critical facilities and more importantly these critical capabilities,” he said. In the past, the Defense Department took a spending holiday when wars ended, leaving the industrial base unable to ramp up efficiently when called upon for the next conflict. Williamson said he wants to avoid that by determining what the minimum sustaining rate is for various parts of the Army’s industrial base. The funding Congress is set to provide will do just that, he said.

“What we owe Congress, what we owe the department is to define what that [minimum sustaining rate] is,” he said. That said, given tight budgets, that sustainment rate needs to be as efficient as possible, he noted. “So before I turn a bill over, what I want to make sure is that we understand what’s the capacity that I need today to sustain the existing force and the potential for a fight, and what’s the ability that I need to grow that capacity–and very quickly.”

Most recently, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed a bill that would provide $120 million for an unrequested Abrams upgrade program, as well as an additional $37 million for the Bradley program and $75.9 million for the Improved Recovery Vehicle program beyond what the Army asked for. The House appropriators, as well as the House and Senate armed services committees, all supported additional spending on the ground vehicle programs to support the industrial base.

Williamson said that the money from Congress will do a variety of things.

“It’s not to just necessarily hire a person or keep a person employed, it’s to sustain the industrial base,” he said. “Sometimes that manifests itself in additional quantities to keep a production line [open]. It could result in an investment or a divestment of a particular piece of kit to make that industry more viable. So I think the good news is they recognized the need to make that investment.”

He added that the program executive officers and Army Materiel Command are working closely to build a plan and submit it to Congress. Williamson has seen a first draft of the plan and expects that it will be finalized shortly.