Pentagon seeks to shift billions to cover rising personnel costs

The Pentagon is shifting money away from weapons and technology programs to cover “higher-than-expected” military personnel costs, according to a recently released $4.3 billion omnibus reprogramming request. 

Congress grants the Defense Department limited authorities to use funds for purposes other than what Congress originally approved — these authorities allow the department to transfer or reprogram money under certain conditions.

In a June 29 reprogramming request, the Defense Department asked Congress to move money away from a range of procurement programs to pay for “higher priority items, based on unforeseen military requirements than those for which originally appropriated and are determined to be necessary in the national interest.”

Much of the funding would cover pay and allowances for officers and enlisted personnel, which is driven by what the department says is stronger recruiting and “lower-than-planned attrition, which increased average strength above the fiscal 2026 budget.”

The Army alone is requesting more than $1.1 billion in additional military personnel funding, including $718 million for enlisted pay and allowances, $200 million to pay for basic allowance for subsistence, and $95 million to cover permanent change of station moves.

The Defense Department is seeking additional funds for permanent change of station moves as the department continues to push the military services to reduce the number of PCS moves, directing the military services to cut discretionary PCS spending by 10% in fiscal 2027, 30% by fiscal 2028 and 50% by 2030.  

 The Army’s PCS travel spending, for instance, could drop from about $2.3 billion in fiscal 2026 to roughly $1.99 billion in fiscal 2027, according to Pentagon’s budget documents.

Last year, the Defense Department sought to move millions from the Army’s permanent change of station fund to cover pay and benefits for troops deployed to support southwest border operations.   

The reprogramming request doesn’t mention the increased costs tied to the war in Iran, but it provides a glimpse into the financial strain the Iran conflict and other missions are having on the Defense Department. 

The Navy, Air Force and Space Force are also receiving additional personnel funding, including $540 million for Navy enlisted personnel and $711 million for Air Force enlisted pay. 

Another winner is the Army National Guard, which would receive more than $1.6 billion in additional personnel and operations funding. The Pentagon said the money is needed to support “emergent mobilization and training requirements for critical operational missions that advance state and national priorities, and strengthen community safety, while sustaining high levels of readiness.” The document does not specify which missions are driving the increased costs.

Meanwhile, the department wants to pull nearly $80 million from the Navy’s aircraft procurement accounts — the department says those funds are available “due to contract delays.”

“The proposed reduction is not intended to reduce the total resources available over the life of the program, but to re-phase the funding to the appropriate fiscal year for execution. Further changes to support the program will be addressed in a future budget submission,” the document reads.

The service’s research and development programs, including command and control systems, electronic warfare, tactical radios, ship combat systems and information technology efforts are also losing money due to a “slower than planned ramp-up rate” as well as contract delays. The Pentagon wants to shift approximately $3.6 million from command and control systems, $4.6 million from electronic warfare development and $12 million from the Joint Tactical Radio System-Navy program.

The Pentagon also seeks to pull nearly $269 million from the Air Force’s research, development, test and evaluation accounts and another $267 million from the Space Force’s research and development efforts.

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