A 27-point plan for the Defense Department to live within 2011 budget caps was unveiled Tuesday by a national security think tank.
The Stimson Center plan, the result of recommendations from a group of prominent advisers including several retired four-star flag and general officers, shaves about $21 billion from force structure, $22 billion from management reforms and $6 billion from weapons modernization. It achieves about $50 billion in savings, slightly more than the $47.7 billion reduction needed to stay within the 2015 spending limit cap set for the Defense Department set by the 2011 Budget Control Act.
The 2011 caps allow for $476.1 billion of spending on defense in 2015, down from the $527.5 billion budget for fiscal 2013.
Management reforms include some dramatic changes in benefits with immediate savings in 2015. These include $5 billion in added out-of-pocket expenses in retiree health care in 2015, $2 billion in reductions in retired pay and $1billion in savings from cutting all taxpayer support for commissaries and exchanges.
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