Defense Budget Development and Execution

Catalog description

This course is a study of the process by which the acquisition, personnel, and readiness (operations and maintenance) portions of the annual Defense Budget are integrated and executed. Students will learn of the politics behind the issues and will gain an appreciation for the complexity of the process. Following an in-depth review of the political scope of budgeting, the course will shift into a study of how budgeting actually works at each stage of executive and legislative action. From the preparation of the service and agency budgets, through the presentation of the president’s budget, to the actual appropriation and expenditure of funds, the student will apply their knowledge of the politics of the process to appreciate the problems and issues in defense budgeting.