ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The Army received high praise from key lawmakers for its efforts to find savings to pay for modernization priorities.

Army leaders are walking a delicate balance in their defense of a $182.3 billion budget for 2020.

The Army's fiscal 2020 budget request will help the service continue its march toward higher levels of readiness and modernization, senior leaders told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Undersecretary of the Army Ryan D. McCarthy, opening speaker at the AUSA Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Ala., said the Army has been making tough choices for the future and has more difficult decisions ahead.

The Army plans to spend more than $57 billion over the next five years on modernization and growth, a signal that the service is doubling down on preparing the force for the future battlefield.

In the program-cutting process the Army has termed “night court,” representatives from every corner of the Army were given a voice in “passionate” discussions to define requirements, said Gen. Gus Perna, commander of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.

The Army is seeking modest growth in the size of the force in 2020 while increasing funding for training and modernization programs.

The Trump administration is proposing a 3.1 percent military pay raise in 2020 – the largest in a decade – as part of a $750 billion budget request for the Defense Department.

Army leaders are concerned about receiving proper and timely funding for fiscal 2020, Army Undersecretary Ryan D. McCarthy said.

Speaking at a Feb. 26 breakfast hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare, McCarthy said officials expect the budget to be rolled out March 12, more than a month later than usual.

An Army budget drill that identified $30 billion in savings was partly about finding money for future modernization and partly to “do better with every dollar we have,” Undersecretary of the Army Ryan D. McCarthy said.