A comparative analysis of congressional budget adjustments for U.S. Special Operations Command

• Main Authors: Baker, Lauren R., Buckles, Ralph T.
• Other Authors: Jones, Lawrence R.
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/10732

MBA Professional Report === The 1986 Defense Authorization Act included the Cohen-Nunn Amendment establishing a unified combatant command for Special Operations Forces (SOF), U.S. Special Operation Command (USSOCOM). USSOCOM's budget has close to tripled between September 11, 2001 and the fiscal year 2012 budget while manpower has almost doubled. These statistics provide sound basis for analysis of USSOCOM's budget and supplemental funds. The purpose of this report is to analyze a segment of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) budgets to see if there is a common theme or reason behind adjustments. Some adjustments are solicited by the services, some by Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) direction, and some are non-solicited adds. The past ten years have had significant effects on all Defense (DoD) and USSOCOM budgets. This research categorizes USSOCOM changes and provides recommendations for future research.