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Editorial: Budget for construction

If the House and Senate appropriations committees have it right — and there’s no reason to doubt them — the Pentagon is headed for rough water on military construction that could ripple through all the services.

In their respective reports on the 2008 construction budget, the committees warn of a converging “perfect storm.”

First, tens of thousands of troops are due to return to the U.S. from bases in Europe this year and next. Second, base closing and realignment decisions made in 2005 are poised to become reality. And, most importantly, the Army and Marine Corps are expanding their active-duty forces by a combined 95,000 troops by 2012.

Lawmakers say the Pentagon has yet to offer details for how this will come together. Indeed, perplexed lawmakers note that the White House is proposing flat construction budgets over the next few years.

Absent a Pentagon blueprint, Navy and Air Force construction money may have to be cut to pay for the unbudgeted needs of the Army and Marine Corps. Yet with the Navy facing steep costs for a new carrier homeport in Florida and the Air Force needing $1 billion to bed down future aircraft, neither can afford such a hit.

The Pentagon’s inability to produce a comprehensive plan for military construction in support of its looming restructuring and rebasing initiatives is as inexplicable as it is inexcusable.

As the wars grind on, the last thing troops and their families should have to worry about is whether their home bases will have sufficient housing and support facilities in coming years.

Delaying a plan for what is, admittedly, a very complex issue poses a substantial risk to the quality of life and morale of countless troops.

Congress must turn up the heat — perhaps by holding hostage money for missile defense, a cherished, costly program the administration will not want to do without.