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January 26, 2010
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press
The President's 2011 budget to be released on February 1, 2010 is expected to include a record $8.8 billion to support military families.  Within this total includes $1.9 billion to be spent on counseling and other support services, $1.3 billion for military child care, $439 million to build 10 Defense Department schools, which is the first step in a program to replace or renovate 103 such schools by 2015, $84 million for career development for military spouses, including tuition assistance and a federal internship program, and $14 million for Coast Guard housing and youth programs for military children.

This funding is consistent with the goals of the Defense Department in recent years to expand the care given to our men and women in uniform as they return from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Efforts to expand research and development of new tools, technologies and methods to care for our soldiers and veterans are at an all-time high and present unique opportunities for hospitals and companies wanting to work with DoD.  For more information, please follow the link below or contact our Defense Practice.

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In 2009, Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made bold moves to revolutionize the United States military. In recent months, Secretary Gates has pushed for the elimination of the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems Armored Vehicle Program and other initiatives such as the F-22 fighter jet, the Transformational Satellite Initiative, and the DDG 1000 Destroyer program, and others.  President Obama's 2010 budget instead seeks to buy more existing weapons systems such as the F-18 fighter jet, Advanced Extremely High Frequency Satellites and the DDG 51 Destroyers.

Secretary Gates stated that he intends to make major changes to the defense budget “based on assumptions about the wars the military must be prepared to fight.” House Armed Services Committee Chairman, Rep. Ike Skelton, has stated that he believes Secretary Gates recommendations have been made in good faith but that Congress must carefully consider each proposal.Indeed, many of the proposed changes have created intense debates on Capitol Hill.

Highlights of President Obama's 2010 budget requests include: 

• A cap of the Air Force's F-22 Raptor program at 187 jets.
• Accelerating the program for the F-35 Lightning II Strike Fighter Program and purchase a total of 2,443 for the Air Force, Navy and Marines. This is based on Sec. Gates concept to build a “fifth-generation tactical fighter capability that can be produced in quantity and sustainable costs.” The Pentagon's budget plan proposes buying 513 Lightning IIs over the next five years.
• The VH-71 Presidential Helicopter program be canceled – followed by a new competition.
• Additional F-18 fighter jets for the Navy. The 2010 budget proposes buying 31 additional jets.
• The Navy cap its DDG 1000 program at three ships and restart efforts on the DDG 51.
• The Air Force put off a program to build a new long-range bomber until more is known about the operational requirements for it and the technologies needed to meet its full requirements.
• Eliminate the Air Force Transformational Satellite program and instead purchase two Extremely High-Frequency communications satellites.
• Cancel the long stalled CSAR-X search and rescue helicopter program.
• Elimination of the Air Force’s second airborne laser airplane while keeping the first one for research and development work.
• The Army cap its Brigade Combat Teams at 45 as opposed to 48.
• The Defense Department reduce the proportion of its work done by contractors from 37% to the mid-20s.
• The conversion of thousands of private sector contractor jobs to be full-time DoD employees.

Along with changes in warfighting technologies and initiatives, the Obama Administration has placed a premium on improving the healthcare for active-duty and retired military personnel. Advanced research and development of new medical technologies and delivery capabilities both in theater and in military treatment facilities (MTFs) is now at the forefront of the Department of Defense’s priority list.

Central to this effort are the joint efforts between the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration to create an interoperable health IT system that will allow for a seamless transfer of medical data along the continuum of care from active duty to veteran status. The Department of Defense's Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) and the VA's Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VISTA) will be bridged and the underlying architectures of the two systems will be refined and improved. The Military Health System, under the leadership of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, is leading the way in revolutionizing the systems to ensure our men and women in uniform receive the healthcare that they deserve.

Additionally, advanced research and development in other areas presents enormous opportunities for hospitals, private sector companies and universities to work with the Department of Defense.

According to the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, part of the US Army’s Medical Research and Material Command (USAMRMC), in 2008 “neurobiology technologies were a pervasive focus, based on a congressional mandate to improve protection and treatment of psychological health and traumatic brain injury and ocular trauma in response to injuries associated with the signature weapon of the current conflict, the improvised explosive device (IED)."

The Department of Defense continues to shape new opportunities and respond to evolving military needs and technological advances.For instance, the US Army’s current medical research portfolio includes:

• Biomonitoring technologies
• Medical robotics
• Medical imaging technologies
• Teleconsultation
• Infectious disease
• Blood safety and supply
• Trauma
• The Hospital of the Future
• Neuroscience
• Traumatic brain injury initiatives
• Regenerative medicine
• Nano medicine and biomaterials
• Ocular health
• Military amputee research program
• Advanced prosthetics and human performance
• Integrative health
• Medical logistics
• Health information technology
• Computational biology
• Genomics
• Medical modeling and simulation
• Simulation and training for Medics and Surgeons
• Large-scale disaster response

There continues to be substantial funding for each of these program initiatives; either from congressionally directed spending, Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) funding, or funding directly from the USAMRMC (smaller grants).  Companies, universities and hospitals looking to do business with DoD to further develop R&D programs will find there are many avenues available within the Agency to help both the warfighter and private sector medical care.