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9,000 more Marines

Pentagon officials want to expand the Corps by 9,000 leathernecks by the end of fiscal 2008, according to a funding wish list sent to Capitol Hill on Monday.

Projected 2008 pay charts

* 2008 basic pay

* 2008 Basic Pay: Extended Table

* 2008 Drill Pay

* 2008 Drill Pay - Extended Table

This would bring the Corps’ end strength to 189,000, officials said, part of a planned increase of 22,000 by 2011.

The Pentagon submitted a three-pronged budget request, including $141.7 billion to fund war costs in 2008, the first time the Defense Department has broken out such costs. It also requested $481.4 billion as a base-line budget for fiscal 2008 and made a $93.4 billion supplemental funding request to meet needs in fiscal 2007.

Defense officials want $12.1 billion in fiscal 2008 to pay for additional forces in both the Army and Marine Corps.

The Corps didn’t have to shift existing funds to pay for the planned addition to its current 180,000 end strength, said budget analyst Charles Cook. “It was a pure add to the top line. Nothing had to be sacrificed.”

The 9,000 new Marines will be the first wave of force growth, which will include forming three new battalions, according to budget documents. Further details on the battalions and the timeframe for adding the new Marines were not immediately available.

“These additional forces will be pretty much spaced through the rest of the Marine Corps,” Cook said. The new units will help fill Marine expeditionary forces and increase the amount of “dwell time” devil dogs have between combat tours.

Included in the fiscal 2007 supplemental request — which comes after a $70 billion supplement previously approved by Congress — defense officials asked for an additional $1.8 billion for equipment reset.

Defense planners also called for a 3 percent military pay raise for 2008.

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