U.S. Military Forces in FY 2020: The Strategic and Budget Context

Although the dictates of the 2018 national defense strategy are clear, implementing them in the real world is difficult in the face of real-world crises, the inertia of legacy investments, and the long timelines needed to field new capabilities. Thus, the budget continues the priorities that Secretary James Mattis set in 2017 but struggles with the need to make trade-offs.

These priorities include: Fixing readiness, so that forces meet a minimum standard. Increasing modernization to fill existing gaps and build capability to compete with great powers such as Russia and China, and Expanding force structure, but modestly.