Less OCO, More Predictability

Army Gen. Raymond Thomas, chief of US Special Operations Command, wants his funding sources to look more like the rest of the Department of Defense. Currently, 28-30 percent of SOCOM funding comes from the overseas contingency operations budget, compared to seven percent in the other military services, Thomas told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday. “We have trended to be much, much more dependent on operational contingency funds than anyone else in DOD,” he said. Thomas told the committee, “I hope that we will be able to get consideration to move that into the base over time.” When added to the instability of all military budgets since the Budget Control Act of 2011, Thomas said “there’s a ripple” effect on personnel in SOCOM. “It affects the morale of our service members.”