The White House’s Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) request submitted late Thursday includes a business opportunity for helicopter manufacturers as it would provide an extra $815 million to help Afghanistan transition off Russian-developed rotary wing aircraft.
The request for the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund would raise its total request to $4.3 billion. This amendment would also provide for additional cargo and close air support aircraft for the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF). Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) currently provides its Super Tucanos light attack aircraft to the Afgan Air Force as part of the U.S. Air Force’s Light Air Support (LAS) program.
The White House’s OCO supplemental is worth $11.6 billion, increasing the total request for fiscal year 2017 to $85.3 billion.
Army operations and maintenance (O&M) would benefit the most from the OCO supplemental as it is set to receive a $2.9 billion boost to $18.2 billion. This money would support active component forces and mobilized reserve and National Guard personnel. Included are amounts for pre-deployment training and operations costs for ground operations and flying hours to include fuel, supplies and repair parts.
Another DoD program that would benefit from the supplemental would be the Iraq Train and Equip Fund. The White House requested an extra $290 million for this fund for a new total request of $920 million. The extra funding would support DoD and other security forces of, or associated with, Iraq’s operations against ISIL. This funding would be available for DoD to provide assistance, specifically stipends and sustainment.
Air Force O&M would gain from the OCO supplement as DoD requested an additional $382 million, bringing the total request to $9.8 billion. This money would finance the cost of operating and maintaining the Air Force in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. This includes the operation costs for flying hours to include fuel, supplies and repair parts.
House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said Thursday in a statement that the amount requested still does not accommodate the increased pace of operations against ISIL and does nothing to begin addressing the readiness crisis. A spokesman for Thornberry’s counterpart, HASC Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), did not return a request for comment on Monday.
Most of the big ticket items in the supplement are for State Department programs, including a potential $2.5 billion increase for the department’s International Security Assistance Economic Support Fund. Another State Department program, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s International Disaster Assistance, is set to receive an extra $953 million.