The Obama administration's fiscal 2015 base budget request of just over half a trillion dollars includes the gutting of major U.S. Air Force and Army aviation fleets, delays to Navy aircraft efforts and slips for satellites, but it also attempts to preserve funding for future technology. The total Pentagon request is for $495.6 billion in the "base" budget with another $26 billion as a "wish list" tied to a larger government tax and revenue package. The former relies heavily on approval from lawmakers to conduct a new round of base closures and reforms to military pay and health care-all likely hitting a divided Capitol Hill with an uninspiring thud. The Pentagon plan to retire A-10 and OH-58D aircraft, many of which are operated by Guard and Reserve forces that have significant influence with lawmakers bent on protecting jobs and facilities in their districts, was also met with a groan.
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