Among the major factors driving the increase is the Pentagon's plan to bolster the ranks of the Army and Marine Corps, forces stretched thin by two wars. The budget calls for an $8.7 billion hike to $20.5 billion in 2009 to add 7,000 soldiers and 5,000 Marines.
Congressional leaders who must approve Bush's request said wars in Iraq and Afghanistan merited the spending increase but criticized the White House for not including those wars' costs in the budget proposal.
Bush has already asked Congress for $70 billion to pay for the wars, and more money will be sought later this year. Last year, the Pentagon asked for $189 billion in war spending.
For all of the 2009 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, the Bush administration said it planned to spend $651.2 billion. That includes the $515 billion request and anticipated supplemental spending bills.
The request will allow the United States to maintain its "technological advantage over current and potential enemies," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
The Pentagon budget is at an all-time high when adjusted for inflation, said Steven Kosiak, vice president at the non-partisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Additional costs for personnel, fuel and weapons systems are behind the increase.
"It's pretty much an across-the-board increase," he said.
Some highlights of the Pentagon's spending plan:
•Increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps: $20.5 billion, an increase of $8.7 billion or 73%, compared with 2008. This year, the Army would grow to 532,000 soldiers, and the Marine Corps would increase its ranks to 194,000. By 2012, the plan would be complete, with the Army topping out at 547,000 soldiers, while there would be 202,000 members of the Marine Corps.
•Aircraft and weapons: $45.6 billion, a $4.9 billion increase, that would include purchases of fighter planes such as the F-22A Raptor and F/A-18 Hornet and unmanned aircraft like the Predator and Reaper.
•Cyberspace security: The budget shows at least $65 million for research and development projects tied to computer security. Some elements of the effort are secret, and funding levels are not disclosed.
•Pay and health care: $149 billion to increase salaries and fund health care. Military salaries would increase by 3.4%.
An additional request for money to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan is a virtual certainty, Kosiak said. It costs about $12 billion a month to fight those wars.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, Congress has appropriated $636 billion for the Pentagon to fight the war on terror, primarily the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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