Number: 97-866
Title: MILITARY READINESS: BACKGROUND TO CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE OVER TIERED READINESS
Authors: Michael A. Longoria and Michael C. Ryan, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division 
Abstract: The Senate version of the FY1998 National Defense Authorization Act required the Department of Defense to prepare a second report on tiered readiness. The House version (H.R. 1119) opposed tiered readiness and specifically prohibited its implementation. In the final conference report, the differences between the two chambers remained sharp over the issue of reducing current force readiness of some units for cost savings--in this case to pay for force modernization. Given probable stringent budget realities in the future, this incident of difference of approach reflects a continuing tension among competing national defense budget priorities that remains difficult to resolve.
Pages: 6
Date: Updated August 31, 1998