Monday, April 6, 2009, was when Gates announced a budget proposal that shifted money away from costly, and sometimes troubled programs. Production or development of several programs — including the F-22 fighter, the presidential VH-71 helicopter and the Army’s Future Combat Systems — eventually came to an end as funding was shifted to more near-term needs.

“Looking at the modernization bow wave in the 2020s, we are embarking on a number of programs that, regardless of what we see with the [Budget Control Act] … I just don’t see how we are going to cram all of those major programs into the budget at the same time,” Todd Harrison, a senior fellow for defense budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said March 16.