Sticker shock: Pentagon reports cost millions

Robert Gates ©AFP/Getty Images Mark Wilson

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Pentagon on Monday highlighted efforts to save money in a new defense budget but revealed that its budget documents cost millions of dollars to prepare.

Pentagon officials said it’s the first time they have included details about the cost of producing 1,000-page reports distributed to journalists and Congress when the annual defense budget is unveiled.

The Army’s budget presentation for 2012 carried the highest price tag at $3.8 million. The Navy’s budget report came in at a modest $1.1 million.

The Air Force’s budget document cost $2.3 million, with a breakdown of the bill that included $55,000 for printing and $1.18 million in “government manpower.”

The new exercise in transparency reflects a push by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to cut waste.

“It is now required for every DoD (Department of Defense) report. This is an efficiencies initiative,” said spokesman Bryan Whitman.

Last month, Gates announced that nearly 400 internal reports and studies would be scrapped for a savings of $1.2 billion over five years.

The Pentagon reports are often “of questionable relevance, value, and in many cases have been rarely read,” Gates said.