Another Sour Note for Taxpayers

Government watchdogs are familiar with how the federal government squanders billions of dollars a year on duplicative, expensive, and non-essentialgovernment programs.  Now taxpayers have a new reason to be disturbed; aSeptember 6, 2010Washington Postarticlereported that approximately half a billion dollars is being wasted by the Pentagon on military bands.

The article highlights the annual funding that military bands receive, including $50 million for the Marine Corps bands ($10 million of which goes to the “President’s Own” band, an ensemble of 130 players that provide music for the White House) and $195 million for the Army, which employs 5,000 musicians.  The Navy, Air Force, and National Guard did not report overall costs.

Based on the figures for the Marine Corps and Army, the reporter projects that the Department of Defense (DoD) could spend as much as $500 million each year on military bands.

According to an Army Field Manual, the purpose of Army bands is to “provide music throughout the entire spectrum of operations to instill in our forces the will to fight and win, foster the support of our citizens, and promote America’s interests at home and abroad.”  However, the bands that represent the three military academies are not made up of cadets, but rather professional musicians.

Military bands occasionally record CDs and send the finished product to schools, band conventions, and radio stations.  This actually adds to the DoD’s costs, since a statute enacted by Congress prevents the armed services from selling their CDs to the public.  Private industries have taken advantage of this backwards logic.  According to the Postarticle,“Service CDs have also created a private, profitable industry made up of companies that obtain the band recordings under the Freedom of Information Act.  They then re-press and package them for public sale. . . .  The services got nothing.”

Unfortunately, from a historical perspective, spending on military bands has increased in some areas.  According to a September 23, 1981 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Army had 2,596 musicians in June 1981.  Today, the Army brags that its estimates 5,000 musicians makes it “the largest and oldest employer of musicians in the country.”There wereapproximately 221,000 more active duty soldiers in the Army in 1981than today, yet there are nearly twice as many Army musicians. 

During a time of skyrocketing budget deficits, out-of-control public debt, and reports of egregious waste within the DoD, Secretary Gates would be wise to reevaluate the funding of military bands and ask whether this money could be better spent elsewhere.This is one tune that taxpayers should not be forced to carry. 

– MacMillin Slobodien