The INSIDER daily digest

Kicking off this Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest with some budget books plus Marine Corps news and more.

Just posted:

DOD's defense-wide FY-17 O&M budget justification books

On Feb. 17, 2016, the Defense Department comptroller's office released the fiscal year 2017 defense-wide operations and maintenance budget justification books.

Cyber could be a growth area for the Marines:

Neller: Marines could cut operational forces to man cyber, IW roles

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller says he is willing to pare down infantry brigades and other operational forces in order to fill cyber, electronic warfare and information warfare specialties within the service.

A breakdown of the Navy's FY-17 budget request:

Navy pushes back on LCS cut, gets one more ship in FY-17 request

The most high-profile changes in the Navy's budget request this year were forecast nearly two months before the service officially revealed its plans for fiscal year 2017.

A couple of House lawmakers don't want the Army to go lower than 475,000 troops:

Lawmakers move to halt active Army cuts at 475,000 soldiers

Two lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee last week proposed legislation that would stop Army end-strength reductions at 475,000 troops, an idea that had service officials questioning where the requisite funding would come from.

The National Defense Sealift Fund might have a better chance of being zeroed out soon:

Navy again proposes disestablishing National Defense Sealift Fund

The Navy is aiming to zero out a fund used for sealift and auxiliary ships, a move the service first tried and failed to make two years ago, but may now have a better chance of getting approved after congressional appropriators prohibited using the account to award new contracts in the latest annual spending bill.

Keep an eye out for an Army Patriot-replacement radar competition:

Vendor competition for lower-tier antimissile radar could begin this year

The Army is expected to move forward with a competition for a Patriot-replacement radar this year if the Office of the Secretary of Defense approves an analysis of alternatives, according to just-released budget documents and service officials.