Throwback Thursday -- Army POM

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, InsideDefense.com's weekly look back at what was happening on or around this day in years past.

This week, Inside the Army obtained an executive summary of the Army's fiscal year 2017-2021 program objective memorandum, which showed the service is spending between $6 billion and $7 billion per year in its overseas contingency operations account on "enduring" expenses that would normally be funded in its base budget.

This same month seven years ago, ITA obtained a briefing on the POM presented to the defense acquisition executive. That document revealed the Army wanted to cut millions from legacy systems like the Abrams tank, Bradley Fighting Vehicle and Stryker family of vehicles to add almost $2.7 billion in research and development funds, as well as millions in procurement money, to Future Combat Systems, its premier modernization program at the time.

Under the proposal, the Abrams tank upgrade program would have essentially ended and the termination would have led to the cancellation of a multiyear contract signed earlier that year. The Pentagon ultimately nixed that idea and maintained the contract.

Story link: Funneling Resources to FCS, Army POM Strips Vehicle Program Funding