By Emelie Rutherford
The Marine Corps has identified for Congress $188.3 million in unfunded programs outside of its official fiscal year 2010 budget request, with seven-ton truck trailers coming in as its single costliest unfunded item.
The service wants $28.9 million for 352 trailers for seven-ton Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement trucks (MTVR) made by Oshkosh Corp. [OSK].
The military services started sending their so-called unfunded-requirements lists, enumerating programs not included in the Obama administration’s budget request, to Congress starting yesterday. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, to the chagrin of some lawmakers, asked to review the services’ lists. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member John McHugh (R-N.Y.) is among the lawmakers who raised concerns about Gates potentially altering the service-specific requests, something Gates pledged to not do.
For the current budget deliberations, the Marine Corps has crafted a six-page presentation titled “FY10 USMC Unfunded Programs List (UPL),” which bears the name Lt. Col. James Erwin from programs and resources and is dated May 13. It lists three categories of items: warfighting equipment ($86.9 million), modernization ($38.1 million), and reset enablers ($63.3 million). Under warfighting equipment, it cites MTVR trailers ($28.9 million) and engineer equipment for logistics support ($58 million). For modernization, it lists three types of items: MV-22 Osprey reliability, maintainability, and safety improvements ($17.4 million), mountain warfare training center logistical support enhancements and Quality of Life ($10.2 million), and tier 1 unmanned aerial system upgrades ($10.5 million). For “reset enablers,” the Marine Corps cites $63.3 million in unfunded needs.
The Marine Corps’ unfunded lists the past two years were much larger, totaling $3.01 billion in FY ’09 and $3.1 billion in FY ’08. A 10th LPD-17 amphibious ship dominated the FY ’09 tally and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs) were prominent on the FY ’08 version. Neither program is cited on this year’s list, even though the Pentagon’s official FY ’10 budget request calls for slowing LPD-17 plans. MRAPs, meanwhile, enjoy strong support in the Pentagon and Congress.