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Wish list: Air Force needs $18.75 billion more

The Air Force says it needs $18.75 billion more in fiscal 2009 than the $143.9 billion it asked for in its budget request.

The service asked for the money in its fiscal 2009 unfunded requirements list delivered to Congress Feb. 8, just four days after it submitted a budget that is already 6.9 percent larger than what it received in 2008.

Read: The unfunded requirements PDF

The unfunded requirements list — often called a “wish list” — is submitted annually and asks for funding for items the Air Force says it needs but could not fit into its budget request.

The fiscal 2009 wish list is 10 percent larger than the $16.9 billion request submitted for fiscal 2008.

Among the 153 items on the 11-page list are $600 million for four additional F-22 Raptors; $497 million to buy long lead-time items for 24 more F-22s in future years; $576 million for eight C-130Js; $3.9 billion for 15 C-17s; $761 million five additional F-35s; and $616 million for five Global Hawks.

Perhaps the biggest surprise on the list is a request for $385 million to increase active-duty end-strength by 13,554, civilian by 1,830 and reserves by 3,400 in fiscal 2009. The ’09 budget request assumes the service will draw down to 316,600 active-duty airmen during 2009, but the wish list indicates that leaders do not want to do that.

The list also asks for $1.1 billion to increase contractor logistics support to reduce the workload on “already stressed blue suit maintainers,” and $748 million for military construction projects. The military construction account in the baseline budget request was slashed by 7.1 percent to help pay for new aircraft.

There is a $276.9 request for base services that affect quality of life, such as base shuttle services, dining hall hours and fitness and recreation programs. The list warns that such services are inadequately funded in the baseline budget request, a problem that could affect “the entire base community, and, specifically, junior airmen.”

The Air Force also requested $99.5 million for equipment and facilities related to nuclear weapons. The list says the 11 items are in accordance with requirements laid out by the blue ribbon review panel that reviewed the Air Force’s nuclear security measures after a well-publicized mishap involving six misplaced nuclear cruise missiles in August. The requested items include high security locks, radiation sensors, upgraded storage structures and transport equipment.

The new Air Force Cyber Command-Provisional also received attention in the wish list. The service asked for $399 million for programs and agencies that will fall under the command.

Other big-ticket requests include $367 million to replace Vietnam-era M-16 rifles with 210,000 M-4s; $235 million to keep Base Realignment and Closure on track; $275 million for the A-10 propulsion upgrade program; $668 million for depot maintenance; $300 million for a classified requirement; and $190 million for mine-resistance ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles.