Gates Seeks to Head Off Further Defense Cuts Defense Secretary Robert Gates says cuts in staff-support contracts will total nearly $6 billion over the next three years, far less than previously estimated. Gates said spending on such contracts will be reduced by 10% per year. His deputy, William Lynn, has told members of Congress and industry representatives that the cuts will target such areas as advisory and assistance services and staff augmentation. (SAA, 1/7) Among the first cutbacks are 270 contractors to be eliminated by the secretary’s Policy Division and the Office of Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics; 360 contractors at the Missile Defense Agency; and nearly 800 at the Defense TRICARE agency. In a Jan. 6 media briefing, Gates announced broad cuts in weapons programs and Defense Department staffing, including reductions in troop strength for the Army and Marine Corps. His plan would save a net $78 billion over five years. The defense budget would barely increase in the next three years and be flat in 2015 and 2016. The downsizing is meant to head off any effort in Congress to make deeper cuts. Gates said some reductions are necessary because of the “extreme fiscal duress” facing the nation, but both he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, emphasized that these cutbacks are all the military can stand. But the secretary acknowledged he will face some pushback from members of Congress who want to save their favorite programs. Among other things, Gates wants to kill the Marines’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, an amphibious landing craft that has been under development by General Dynamics for more than two decades while its budget swelled. He proposed cancellation of an Army surface-to-air missile system and said the Marines’ version of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is on probation to see whether its costs can be controlled or whether it will be eliminated. Some of the cost savings would be used to fund new weapons systems, including a new long-range bomber and additional unmanned aerial vehicles for the Air Force and Army. Starting in 2015, the Army would shrink by 27,000 troops from its present level of 569,000, while the Marines would reduce their current 202,000 personnel by 15,000 to 20,000. Gates proposed increasing healthcare costs for working-age military retirees, a step Congress has repeatedly rejected.