Assessing the Implications of Policy Options for the Military Personnel Budget

Since 2000, spending on military personnel (MILPERS) has grown at an average annual rate of 3.3 percent to approximately $36 billion in 2021. This outpaced growth in prices in the overall economy, which averaged 1.9 percent per year for the same period. To ensure a ready workforce without undercutting modernization efforts, the U.S. Department of the Air Force (DAF) must explore options to maximize MILPERS affordability. At the same time, it must consider the nonmonetary trade-offs and risks that these options entail. A new analytic framework allows users to view savings, trade-offs, and risks of different solution options alongside one another.