General: Army increase will cost $70B

January 24, 2007
General: Army increase will cost $70B

WASHINGTON (AP) - Increasing the size of the Army, strained by America's two ongoing wars, will cost an estimated $70 billion, a top Army general said Tuesday.

The Army's preliminary estimate is that it would cost $70 billion to increase its size and the funds would be spread over budget years 2009 through 2013, Speakes told a defense writers group Tuesday .

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker has said that the service budget jumps $1.2 billion with each 10,000 soldiers that it recruits and trains. Speakes said the $70 billion figure includes everything - from equipment to pay to health benefits. No figure was immediately available for the increase in the Marine Corps.