Nice editorial by WAPO.
The set-up:
Robert M. Gates spent his first two years focused on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in each case backing a "surge" to turn around U.S. fortunes. Now, with his time in office probably dwindling, he's taken on a final mission: reforming Pentagon spending so that the United States will be able to maintain its military forces in an era of fiscal austerity. Though the outcome of a war isn't at stake, it's crucial that Mr. Gates succeed.
Gates strives to keep his divisions and such in this uncertain world, so he targets the "tail" behind the "tooth."
This is, to use some military jargon, a target-rich environment. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Pentagon budget has nearly doubled, not counting the costs of Iraq and Afghanistan. Much has gone to non-military ends. Health-care costs, for example, have risen from $19 billion to $51 billion and make up nearly a tenth of the entire budget. A military family of four pays an average of $1,200 annually for health care, compared with $3,200 for other federal employees. Wages have risen 43 percent, compared with 32 percent in the private sector.
While the military's overall size has shrunk since the Cold War, generals, admirals and their headquarters have remained intact. The private sector has flattened and streamlined management since 2000, but the number of levels of staff between the secretary of defense and a line officer has grown from 17 under Donald Rumsfeld to as many as 30 under Mr. Gates. The latter likes to point out that a request for a dog-handling team in Afghanistan must be approved by five four-star headquarters.
A seasoned veteran of Washington, Mr. Gates doesn't aim for radical change. He'd like to cut $15 billion or so from these costs in the 2012 defense budget. The problem, of course, is Congress.
A real sign of presidential courage would be to veto a congressional defense bill loaded up with the usual pork, like, as noted in the editorial, a second engine for the F-35 fighter that the Pentagon says it does not want.
Reminds me of the line from the "Contact" (from the military industrialist S.R. Haddon played by John Hurt in my all-time favorite role of his):
First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?