If the Air Force budget number ($130.4 billion) seems a tad high in comparison to the other services (Army at $111.8 billion; Navy/Marine Corps at $127.4 billion), it’s probably because the DOD number includes what is termed non-blue dollars—$24.5 billion to be precise. The Air Force-specific 2007 budget amount is actually $105.9 billion, which is only slightly more than the $105.5 billion enacted for fiscal 2006. The nearly $25 billion “extra” the Pentagon would allocate to USAF goes toward programs and functions that support other services not the blue Air Force.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.