Pentagon siphons $1.4 billion from accounts used to pay airmen, sailors

Above: Dressed in an Army battle uniform a Senior Airman dons battle armor ahead of the day's clearing missions in Baghdad this month. As a Joint Terminal Attack Controller, he is in-charge of communicating coordinates for close air support during fire fights. The Air Force has acknowledged that such money transfers may delay some airmen's paydays.

WASHINGTON, May 16 (UPI) -- The Pentagon is dipping into the personnel accounts of the Air Force and Navy to fund ongoing Army operations in Iraq.

The dollar-touch is the fifth such siphoning of funds absent emergency supplemental funding for the conflict and coincides with the 100-day mark of President Bush sending his $95 billion request to Capitol Hill.

The White House says the amount being taken from the two services is $1.4 billion, enough to fund operations for just one week.

Read the rest at UPI

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Air Force: Delayed paychecks for airmen possible if $1.6 billion diverted to Army