When the second Trump Administration posted its first budget request last year, the Department of Defense/War (DOD/W) included a new set of data showing what each Military Department and Defense Agency proposed to spend on Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS). The numbers provided also included proposed cuts to spending on those services.

For the coming fiscal year, as part of the administration’s second budget request, this time for fiscal 2027, the DOD/W posted what it proposes to spend on A&AS and again included what it intends to cut. This week’s post reviews these proposed budgets in aggregate. Posts in the coming weeks will dig deeper into each Military Department and the Fourth Estate.

The Data Set

The published DOD/W data divides proposed A&AS budgets into two categories that are then further divided into four subcategories. The two larger categories are budgets related to A&AS provided by Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and those for “Non-FFRDC Work.” The subcategories are Management and Professional Support Services, Studies, Analysis, and Evaluations, Engineering and Technical Services, and Training and Leadership Development. The numbers examined here are for Non-FFRDC Work because those budgets are more relevant to industry as a whole.

It is worth noting that these figures generally appear in the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) requests. Only the Air Force published A&AS budgets related to its Research, Development, Evaluation, and Test, as well as its Procurement accounts. For ease of use, those numbers are rolled into the total presented for the Air Force.

Total Advisory and Assistance Services Budgets

Here is the data on requested FY 2027 A&AS budgets provided by the DOD/W.

The first thing that is apparent from this data is that the DOD/W’s Fourth Estate is by far the most dependent on contracted professional services. So much so in fact that its combined budget in these four areas dwarfs those of the Military Departments. This said, the aggregate, Non-FFRDC Work Defense Agencies’ A&AS budget of $7.4B in FY 2027 will still be down $1.4B compared to the total of $8.8B enacted in FY 2026. This is the second year of decline, with the request down $2.3B compared to the $9.7B spent in FY 2025.

Concerning the aggregate FY 2027 A&AS budget request proposed by the Air Force, it totals $5.3B and is heading in the opposite direction from that of the Defense Agencies. Totaling $3.4B in FY 2026, the Air Force requested $1.9B more for FY 2027 representing a jump of 56.5%.

The same cannot be said for the Army, which requested $2.0B for A&AS in FY 2027. This total is flat when considering the rounded total, but a closer look at the request reveals the Army expects to spend $94M less on A&AS in FY 2027 compared to FY 2026.

As for the Navy, its proposed A&AS budget shows the same upward trend as the Air Force. Requesting $2.0B in FY 2027, this represents a jump of $270M compared to the funding received in FY 2026.

Summing up, while the DOD/W anticipates less spending on professional services by the Fourth Estate and the Army, it expects the Air Force and Navy will receive higher budgets and thus spend more. Industry partners providing such services may want to shift their opportunity pursuit efforts where the increased funding is going, but should also keep in mind that the Fourth Estate still spends more by far on A&AS than the other parts of the DOD/W. The Army’s $2.0B remains a significant sum as well.