Someone here must be in the real know regarding this.
Not for a second do I want to minimize the cost of our soldier's lives, but from a budget standpoint, where does the money go?

From the AP:
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration will ask for another $100 billion for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year and seek $145 billion for 2008, a senior administration official said Friday.

Politics aside. That's A LOT of money in addition to what the military costs as it is.

We have an army we pay. Just for numbers sake assuming no war, let's say we have an army of 100 men.
We have to cloth, feed, wash, and train those 100 men. Once they are trained, we still keep them on the payroll, in case there's a war.

A war comes. They signed on with the understanding that if there's a war, there is a risk to life and limb.
Is there something in the agreement that says if we ship these guys off somewhere, they get their regular pay x 2, or x3?

What if some get sent to a peaceful place, like Germany?

I've heard of the term combat pay, but what constitutes being in combat and when does that pay start?

We have a stockpile of guns and ammo.
In the case of my army of 100, assume we have 120 guns and some ammo for each and spare parts.
We'd have that with no war.

We have fuel, planes, trucks, and all that goes with an army.
We'd have that too, if there was no war.

I take it the money requested goes to replenish supplies consumed to get us back to a maintained level of 100.

What else?

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I think the money is the extra cost of deployment, at war more bombs are dropped, bullets fired, trucks break and lots of Ex-lax to counter the constipation caused be MRE's.

Base pay does not increase, but there is hazardous duty pay which is defined by operational theatre. It is not, however two or three times as much! FYI, some pay (BAS, or Basic Allowance for Subsistence) is actually reduced when deployed since the troops are eating in chow halls and have "free" rent.

Fuel is a tremendous cost, especially with the logistics of today. Sure, ordinance is a big deal, as is the increased wear and tear on all vehicles. The exponentially increased usage of certain aircraft, like C-130s, is going to require retirement and replacement of them in the not-so-distant future.

That's helpful in understanding. Thanks.

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85' 300D No inspection, No registration fees, Cheap insurance
"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious %$&^."