The White House on Thursday asked Congress to provide $58.6 billion in Fiscal 2015 to fund the Defense Department’s activities in Afghanistan and other overseas contingency operations. The funding request is $20.9 billion less than the $79.4 billion placeholder figure that the Pentagon provided to Congress earlier this year. This request “primarily funds” US military operations in Afghanistan, states the White House’s fact sheet. “Although the Fiscal 2015 OCO request reflects a transition as the United States concludes combat operations in Afghanistan, most costs will not decline precipitously. For example, DOD will still incur significant costs to transport personnel, supplies, and equipment back to their home stations,” reads the document. The OCO funding would also cover the costs of the Obama Administration’s new Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund, including a new Syria-Regional Stabilization Initiative, and the European Reassurance Initiative. The White House requested $4 billion and $925 million, respectively, for DOD’s work in those two areas. (See also DOD release.)?
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
