Army personnel costs have doubled, Pentagon $2 billion short for 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The cost of U.S. troops has nearly doubled in the last five years, according to top Army officials.

The U.S. Army knows it is already about $2 billion short to cover the costs of personnel in 2007, about the same amount it was short last year.

The Army was forced to take $1.2 billion out of its 2006 supplemental "war" account to cover personnel costs at the tail end of 2005. The money was supposed to be reported to equipment accounts to pay for new trucks and other equipment, but the personnel account was short again, by about $400 million. That same deficit is expected in 2007.

The 2007 budget was written in 2005 when the military anticipated there would be a significant drawdown of forces by 2007, said Maj. Gen. Ross Thompson, the Army's director of program analysis and evaluation.Those cuts have not been made because of the security situation in Iraq.

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