As requested, the Marine Corps fiscal year 2017 budget will complete the service’s eight-year reduction in end strength to 182,000, which the service plans to maintain for at least the next five years.
The Marine Corps met that mark a year in advance of its plans, which aimed for the reduction from a wartime high of 202,000 in 2018. The 2017 request also funds a Marine Corps reserve of 38,500 Marines.
The Marine Corps base budget remains relatively flat at $23.4 million, which is up $200 million from the current fiscal year. The total includes $13 billion for personnel and $6 billion for operations and maintenance and $1.4 billion in procurement.
The fiscal 2017 budget request “fiscally stretches the Marine Corps to maintain current readiness and conduct modernization required to keep pace with constantly evolving and capable adversaries,” the service said in budget documents made available on Tuesday.
Photo: Bell Helicopter Textron.
The Marine Corps’ overall procurement budget is up from $1.2 billion in the current fiscal year to $1.4 billion in the 2017 request including overseas contingency (OCO) funding. The Marine Corps has moved $1.2 billion of its operation and maintenance costs into the protected OCO or war funding account, which totals $1.6 billion in the fiscal 2017 request.
Investments are slated for aircraft, though most procurement numbers for most airframes are down.The F-35B short-takeoff and vertical landing variant of the Joint Strike Fighter remains the Marine Corps’ single largest procurement line item. The service requested 16 F-35s in its 2017 request, one more than it bought in the current fiscal year.
Funding for low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the CH-53K King Stallion, which will replace the CH-53E, shows up in the fiscal 2017 budget request with an outlay for two airframes. Procurement of the heavy lift helicopter increases steadily through fiscal year 2021 for a total of 40 over the Five Year Defense Plan (FYDP).
The service will speed up buying the final 78 AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom helicopters and procures outright 24 Vipers. The service will buy 27 of a mix of the two helicopters each in fiscal years 2018 and 2019.
Procurement of the MV-22 Osprey is down to 16 in fiscal 2017 from 19 in the current fiscal year. The total includes six V-22s for the Navy’s carrier onboard delivery (COD) program. The Navy will maintain purchasing six V-22s a year while the Marine Corps will not see another new Osprey until fiscal 2021 when the services will buy 14 for a total of 40 aircraft over the next five years.
Vehicles procurement is slightly up, thanks mainly to the low-rate initial production of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle in concert with the Army. The Marine Corps plans to buy seven in fiscal 2017, then ramp up to 60 the following year and 113 in fiscal 2019.
The service also requested funding to continue engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle. The FY 2017 budget supports the EMD contracts including the delivery of 32 test vehicles, test and evaluation activities, and associated program support.