{"id":29737,"date":"2020-02-19T13:00:19","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T13:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/19\/army-three-star-predicts-future-financial-woes\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:46:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:46:25","slug":"army-three-star-predicts-future-financial-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2020\/02\/19\/army-three-star-predicts-future-financial-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"Army three-star predicts future financial woes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Army is trying to figure out how to fund modernization goals<\/a> under what leaders expect will be a flat budget with rising personnel and operational costs<\/a> in the years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When inflation is factored in, the Army\u2019s real purchasing power is actually decreasing, according to Lt. Gen. Thomas Horlander, the Army\u2019s top financial management officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To trim the fat, the service has been going through so-called \u201cnight court\u201d reviews, in which leaders evaluate programs every year and cut legacy systems in order to fund priorities like long-range precision fires<\/a>, future vertical lift<\/a> and soldier lethality<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the service\u2019s modernization programs enter pilot tests and are fielded to troops, the Army expects many more night court sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you thought some of these decisions that we\u2019ve made here in the last couple years were tough, I will tell you, there\u2019s some difficult decisions on the horizon,\u201d Horlander said Tuesday at the Association of the U.S. Army. \u201cWhen you factor in inflation, [the budget] is actually a downturn in real purchasing power over the last few years. This year it\u2019s about a 1 percent downturn in real purchasing power. We need real purchasing power growth of 3 to 5 percent.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modernization so far hasn\u2019t sapped the size of the Army, which is still steadily growing. The Army\u2019s intended end-strength goal for fiscal year 2020 is 485,000 active duty troops. The 2021 budget calls for that to grow to 486,000 soldiers, with similar growth in years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have modest growth of about 1,000 soldiers per year for the next four or five years,\u201d Maj. Gen. Paul Chamberlain, director of the budget at the office of the assistant secretary of the Army, said Feb. 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\t