The Department of Defense (DOD) Task Force of the ASME Inter-Council Committee on Federal Research and Development (ICCFRD) of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME International) is pleased to provide the following comments on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 budget request for the Department of Defense.
FINDINGS The Department of Defense (DOD) Basic Research (category 6.1), Applied Research (category 6.2) and Advanced Technical Development (category 6.3) accounts provide the fundamental building blocks for Defense Science and Technology (S&T;) programs.
The President’s proposed FY04 budget request for the DOD S&T; Program is $9.93 billion, 7.8 percent lower than the FY 2003 appropriated levels. Basic Research and Applied Research are down $109 million (7.7 percent) and $618 million (14.4 percent), respectively. Advanced Technology Development has increased $186 million (3.7%), mostly because of increases to classified programs. Individually, the Army and Navy are experiencing cuts of 27% and 21% after accounting for programs devolved from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). The Air Force budget is up 3.5%, but mostly due to increases to a classified 6.3 program.
In the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review, DOD set an S&T; funding goal of 3% of the department’s Total Obligational Authority (TOA) as part of its transformation objectives. For the last two years, that goal has been achieved only after Congress added more than $1 billion to the President’s request in each of those years. The 3% goal was recently reaffirmed by the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics and three senior officers representing the three services at a March 31st hearing before the Senate Armed Services, Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee. This reaffirmation is in contradiction to a barely greater than inflation growth in FY04 President’s budget Request (PBR) over the FY03 PBR and a Future Years Defense Plan that shows a gradual decline in the percent of TOA budgeted to S&T.;
Defense agencies have historically been the largest source of federal funding for engineering research in our industry, as well as at the nation’s universities. The universities are significant collaborators with industry and are the source for young engineering talent for the defense sector, both public and private. Federal funding for defense basic and applied research has also provided the majority of financial support for graduate level education in defense related fields. DOD has been the dominant source of federal funding, 70% and 66% respectively, for the electrical and mechanical engineering disciplines. DOD also funds more than 40% of academic research in the aerospace and materials engineering fields. After a decade of defense S&T; funding cuts but steady population growth, it should be no surprise that doctoral engineering enrollments are at a ten year low. Foreign students who were once counted on to remain in the United States after graduation are increasingly returning to their home countries for more attractive opportunities. As a result of an overall decline in engineering enrollments for much of the past decade, federal defense laboratories and the defense industry have had great difficulty in attracting and retaining the best-of-the-best engineering and scientific talents of this nation. This problem has only become more critical with the increased focus on security and the concomitant need to employ citizens in sensitive technology areas.
Nearly a decade of funding declines accompanied by dramatic budget instability and a pattern in which advanced technology demonstration programs, designed to accelerate the insertion of research efforts, were stretched out, delayed and cancelled, resulted in a waste of valuable resources, and has been a deterrent to attracting a generation of highly skilled, highly motivated engineers and scientists, the folks who transform ideas into reality. The decline in support has led to the loss of irreplaceable research facilities and infrastructure to reduce federal and corporate overhead costs. In the academic institutions, many aerospace and other defense related programs of study were discontinued, thereby weakening the important contributions that these universities make to the U.S. defense technology base. As research and development budgets were reduced, the job market for engineers in the defense sector shrunk, leaving little incentive for young engineers to seek defense-related career opportunities. The recent budget increases by the administration and the Congress for DOD S&T; must be sustained to reverse these alarming trends.
The Department of Defense and defense industry now have a workforce whose average age is increasing at an alarming rate and will continue to do so until our intellectual resources are replenished. Just as our country’s recent and prolonged economic expansion was largely the outcome of technological advances that were created by the world’s premier group of talent – US technologists - so has our recent and prolonged success in military engagements been the outcome of technological advances made by this national treasure. A February 2003 report by the Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) stated, “Federal support for science and engineering students enhances economic growth.” Strengthening defense-related engineering sciences is essential for meeting the future needs of the DOD and our economy.
The President’s Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry has documented the workforce and funding issues above and recommended in its November 2002 Final Report “that DOD’s annual science and technology (6.1-6.3) funding must be sufficient and stable to create and demonstrate the innovative technologies needed to address future national security threats. An amount no less than three percent of DOD Total Obligational Authority, “fenced” from budget cuts, would be sufficient.”
In 1998, the Defense Science Board recommended that the department’s science and technology budget be about 3.5 percent of the total budget. The 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review stated that, "A robust research and development effort is imperative to achieving the Department's transformation objectives. DOD must maintain a strong science and technology (S&T;) program that supports evolving military needs and ensures technological superiority over potential adversaries." The review further called “for a significant increase in funding for S&T; programs to a level of three percent of DOD spending per year." Unfortunately, the current year budget takes a step back from the progress made last year and the out-year budget projections of the department project a declining percentage of TOA devoted to S&T.;
S&T; budgets within the services have also typically experienced great fluctuations, as the services have struggled to maintain long-term, stable funding for basic research. Given the long-term nature of basic research, any damage to the programs, though it may not be easily spotted in the near term, will result in the loss of the U.S. technology lead and will require an even greater corrective investment in the future.
The fiscal year 2004 budget request to Congress for the department would transfer – or devolve – a group of critical, joint, multidisciplinary programs from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to the services. In order to continue moving toward stated overall investment goals for S&T; and to carry out strategic decisions most effectively, the OSD - as the most appropriate entity to facilitate jointness - will need controlling authority over basic research programs and budgets. OSD should retain current oversight and management of critical research initiatives until management plans are detailed and tested.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Task Force supports the findings and recommendations of the Quadrennial Defense Review and the Defense Science Board Task Force to provide 3 percent of the total Defense Department Budget, or $11 billion for the DOD basic (6.1), applied (6.2) and advanced technology development (6.3) accounts, which make up the S&T; program.
DOD S&T; programs provide critical investments in scientific disciplines vital to ensuring future security - including engineering, mathematics, and physical, computer, and behavioral sciences. We strongly concur with the recommendations made in the February 2003 report by the Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology for a balanced portfolio of physical and life sciences achieved by a healthy increase to engineering and physical science budgets such as DOD’s for FY 2004, and beyond. Supporting DOD S&T; will ensure that the best engineering and scientific minds are once again available and willing to apply their talents to meet the future defense needs of this nation.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer our views.
