document_title: Emmerdale

question_text: who is the longest running actor in emmerdale

text: Emmerdale

text: Conception

text: The premise of Emmerdale Farm was similar to the BBC radio soap opera The Archers, focusing on a family, a farm and characters in a nearby village. The programme's farmyard filming was originally modelled on RTÉ's The Riordans, an Irish soap opera which was broadcast from the mid-1960s to the end of the 1970s. The Riordans broke new ground for soap operas by being filmed largely outdoors (on a farm, owned on the programme by Tom and Mary Riordan) rather than in a studio—the usual practice of British and American soap operas. The programme pioneered farmyard location shooting, with farm animals and equipment. During the 1960s and 1970s, outdoor filming of television programmes with outdoor broadcast units (OBUs) was in its infancy due to higher costs and reliance on the weather. The Riordans' success demonstrated that a soap opera could be filmed largely outdoors, and Yorkshire Television sent people to its set in County Meath to see the programme's production firsthand.[3][4]

text: Characters, residences and businesses

text: Emmerdale has had a large number of characters since it began, with its cast gradually expanding in size. The programme has also had changing residences and businesses for its characters, including a bed-and-breakfast and a factory.

text: The Miffield estate was the largest employer in the village of Beckindale, 39 miles (63 km) from Bradford and 52 miles (84 km) from Leeds. Lord Miffield leased Emmerdale Farm, on the edge of the village, to the Sugden family during the 1850s in gratitude after Josh Sugden sacrificed his life for the earl's son in the Crimean War. Josh's grandson Joseph married Margaret Oldroyd and their son, Jacob, was born in January 1916. During the 1930s, Jacob Sugden purchased Emmerdale Farm. In 1945 he married Annie Pearson, daughter of farm labourer Sam Pearson. Margaret Sugden died in 1963, and Joseph died the following year.

text: Jacob Sugden ran the farm into the ground, drinking away its profits. The badly-maintained farm's future looked bleak at his death on 10 October 1972. He was survived by his wife Annie, two sons and a daughter: Jack, the eldest; Peggy and Joe, the youngest of the three. These characters formed the basis of Emmerdale Farm.

text: Character types on Emmerdale have included "bad boys", such as Cain Dingle, Ross Barton, Carl King, Robert Sugden and Aaron Livesy; "bitches", such as Kim Tate, Charity Tate, Nicola King, Chrissie White, Kelly Windsor and Sadie King; "villains", such as Cameron Murray, Lachlan White, Steph Stokes, Rosemary King, Gordon Livesy and Sally Spode; caring characters, such as Laurel Potts, Emily Kirk, Lisa Dingle, Paddy Kirk and Ruby Haswell; sassy women, such as Chas Dingle, Val Pollard, Viv Hope, Rebecca White, Nicola King, Leyla Harding and Belle Dingle, and comedy characters such as Kerry Wyatt, Bernice Blackstock, David Metcalfe, Val Pollard, Seth Armstrong, Dan Spencer and Jimmy King. The show has had a number of matriarchs, including Diane Sugden, Viv Hope, Lisa Dingle, Annie Sugden and Moira Barton. Older characters in Emmerdale include Edna Birch, Betty Eagleton, Pearl Ladderbanks, Sandy Thomas, Seth Armstrong, Alan Turner, Sam Pearson, Lily Butterfield and Len Reynolds.

text: First episode

text: The first episode of Emmerdale Farm, aired on 16 October 1972, began with Jacob Sugden's funeral. Jacob upset the family when he left the farm to his eldest son, Jack, who left home at 18 in 1964 and had not returned. Jack appeared in the opening episode, avoiding the funeral and waiting for the Sugdens at Emmerdale Farm. Over the next few months Jack sold a share of the farm to Annie, Joe, Peggy and his grandfather, Sam Pearson. Emmerdale Farm Ltd was formed when Henry Wilks bought Sam's share of the estate. The first episode, along with the others, have been repeated and released on a variety of media.[5]

text: Characters introduced in the first episode were:

text:
Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier)
Jack Sugden (Andrew Burt)
Peggy Skilbeck (Jo Kendall)
Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne)
Joe Sugden (Frazer Hines)
Sam Pearson (Toke Townley)
Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill)
Henry Wilks (Arthur Pentelow)
Marian Wilks (Gail Harrison)
Alec Saunders (Alan Tucker)

text: Overview

text: First 21 years

text: The show's focus, initially on the farm and the Sugden family, moved to the nearby village of Beckindale. Reflecting this change, on 14 November 1989 its title was changed to Emmerdale. Coinciding with the title change was the introduction of the Tate family. These changes and more exciting storylines and dramatic episodes, such as Pat Sugden's 1986 car crash and the 1988 Crossgill fire, gradually began to improve the soap's popularity under new executive producer Keith Richardson. Richardson produced the programme for 24 years, overseeing its transformation from a minor, daytime, rural drama into a major UK soap opera.[6] The Windsor family arrived in 1993.

text: Plane crash and the next 15 years

text: By 1993 Emmerdale was beginning its third decade on the air. In December of that year, one particular episode emerged as a major turning point for the show's history. Meant to evoke memories of the Lockerbie Disaster whose fifth anniversary was just nine days prior, the Emmerdale episode written for 30 December attracted its highest-ever audience (over 18 million) by featuring a plane crashing into the village, killing four people.[7] According to Nick Smurthwaite, the episode brought forth not just ratings but "complaints from aghast viewers."[7] Nevertheless, the episode proved to be "brilliant television", as the highly-rated episode "allowed the writers to get rid of much dead wood, and reinvent the soap virtually from scratch", which included survivors changing the village name from Beckindale to Emmerdale.[7]

text: Emmerdale had dramatic storylines for the rest of the 1990s and new long-term characters, such as the Dingle family, were introduced. The Tates became the soap's leading family during the decade, overshadowing the Sugdens and remaining at Home Farm for 16 years. Family members left or died and the last, Zoe, left in 2005. The early and mid-2000s included episodes with a storm (a similar, less-major storyline 10 years after the plane crash), a bus crash, the Kings River explosion, Sarah Sugden's death in a barn fire and the Sugden house fire (set in 2007 by Victoria Sugden, who was seeking the truth about her mother's death). It also saw the introduction of major long-term characters, including the King family and Cain and Charity Dingle (who left before returning in 2009).[8]

text: In 2009 the longest-tenured character, Jack Sugden, was killed off after the death of actor Clive Hornby (who had played Jack since 1980). Jack's funeral featured the first on-screen appearance in 13 years of Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier). Early that year, executive producer Keith Richardson was replaced by former series producer Steve November (later replaced by John Whiston). Gavin Blyth became the series producer, followed by Stuart Blackburn after his death.

text: 40th anniversary week and beyond

text: Emmerdale celebrated its 40th anniversary on 16 October 2012. On 1 May 2012, it was announced that the show would have its first-ever live episode.[9] On 25 June 2012, it was announced that Tony Prescott, who directed the 50th anniversary live episode of Coronation Street in December 2010 would direct the episode.[10] On 23 July it was reported that an ITV2 backstage show, Emmerdale Uncovered: Live, would be broadcast after the live episode.[11] On 14 August, it was announced that the production team was building a new Woolpack set for the live episode. Although Emmerdale's village and interior sets are miles apart, its producers wanted The Woolpack to feature in the live episode.[12] On 31 August, it was announced that Emmerdale had created and filmed a live music festival with performances by Scouting for Girls and The Proclaimers.[13] On 6 September, it was confirmed that the One-hour live episode would include an unexpected death, two weddings and two births.[14]

text: Emmerdale Live aired on 17 October 2012, in the middle of the 40th anniversary week, with the death revealed to be Carl King's. The story of Carl's death took the show into 2013, when a new series producer replaced Blackburn (who became producer of Coronation Street).

text: At the beginning of August 2015, Emmerdale introduced a new storyline: "Summer Fate", with the tagline "The choices we make are the paths we take. Who will meet their summer fate?". A promo for the storyline was released on 13 July. A disaster storyline had been rumoured, confirmed by the promo. The disaster was identified on 1 August, two days before the disaster week began, as a helicopter crash. The crash was triggered by an argument between Chrissie and Robert Sugden; Chrissie set Robert's car ablaze, causing exploding gas canisters to collide with a helicopter. The helicopter crashed into the village hall during Debbie Dingle and Pete Barton's wedding reception. Regular characters Ruby Haswell and Val Pollard were killed in the aftermath of the crash. Although Ross Barton was apparently murdered by his brother Pete, it was learned three weeks later that he survived.

text: Families

text: Emmerdale has featured a number of families, some defining an era of the show:

text:
The Sugden family (1972–present)
The Bates family (1984–2001)
The Tate family (1989–2005, 2009–present)
The Windsor/Hope families (1993–present)
The Dingle family (1994–present)
The Glover family (1994–2000)
The Thomas family (1996–present)
The Blackstock/Lambert family (1998–present)
The Reynolds family (1999–2007)
The King family (2004–present)
The Sinclair family (2006–2008)
The Wylde/Lamb family (2009–2011)
The Barton family (2009–present)
The Sharma family (2009–present)
The Macey family (2010–present)
The Spencer family (2011–present)
The White family (2014–present)

text: The Sugdens and their relatives, the Merricks and the Skilbecks, were at the centre of the show during the series' first two decades in the 1970s and 1980s (the Emmerdale Farm era). The Sugdens, owners of Emmerdale Farm, were its first family. Many of its members, and those of the Merrick and Skilbeck families, have left or been killed off since the mid-1990s.

text: December 1984 saw the arrival of Caroline Bates; her teenage children, Kathy and Nick, followed in late 1985. Caroline left the show in 1989, returning for guest appearances in 1991, 1993-1994 and 1996. Nick was written out of the show when he was sentenced to ten years in prison in 1997. Kathy and her niece, Alice, remained in the village until late 2001; by then, Kathy had outlived two husbands. Through her, the Bateses are related to two of Emmerdale's central families: the Sugdens (through Jackie Merrick) and the Tates (through Chris Tate).

text: Sugdens remaining in the village include Jack's widow, Diane; his three children, Andy, Robert and Victoria Sugden; Andy's children Sarah and Jack (the latter born on the show's 40th anniversary), and Robert's ex-wife Chrissie. Other families followed: the middle-class Windsors in 1993 (known as the Hope family after Viv's 2001 remarriage to Bob Hope) and the ne'er-do-well Dingles in 1994.

text: The Tate, Windsor-Hope and Dingle families predominated during the 1990s and 2000s. The era's storylines included the 1993 plane crash, the 1994 Home Farm siege, the 1998 post-office robbery, the 2000 bus crash, the 2003–04 storm and the 2006 King show-home collapse. By the mid- to late-2000s, the last of the Tates (Zoe, daughter Jean and nephew Joseph) had emigrated to New Zealand. In 2009, Chris Tate's ex-wife Charity and their son Noah returned to the village. Members of the Windsor-Hope family left the village in early 2006, and Viv Hope was killed off in a village fire in February 2011 after nearly 18 years on the show. As of 2015 only Donna Windsor's daughter, April, and the Hope branch of the family (Bob and his children, Carly and twins Cathy and Heathcliff) remain.

text: The King family arrived in 2004 (as the Tates departed), but many members have been killed off. In 2013, most of the Dingles remained. Their circumstances had changed in their two decades in the village; Chas Dingle owned half of The Woolpack and Marlon was a chef. As of 2014, the Dingles, Bartons and Whites are the central families; the Bartons are a farming family, and the Whites currently own Home Farm.

text: Storylines

text: Over the years, Emmerdale has highlighted a range of different social issues, including rape, cancer, miscarriage, dementia, homosexuality, arson, murder, HIV, sexual assault, post traumatic stress disorder, brain aneurysm, adultery, domestic violence, financial problems, embezzlement, sexual abuse, alcoholism, drug addiction, anorexia, teenage pregnancy, gambling addiction, bereavement, fraud, suicide, mesothelioma, schizophrenia, manslaughter, becoming a parent in later life, sudden infant death syndrome, self-harming, assisted suicide, epilepsy and premature births.

text:
1973 – Sharon Crossthwaite was raped and strangled by Jim Latimer. Jack Sugden discovered the truth after arriving home to find Jim trying to strangle Penny Golightly, after which Jim confessed his murder of Sharon.
1973 – Jack Sugden's lodger, Ian ("Trash") McIntyre, died trying to escape from a first-floor window at The Old Mill, where Jack had locked him in for his own safety; he fell, breaking his neck.
1976 – Matt Skilbeck's twin children (Sam and Sally) and his aunt, Beattie Dowton, were killed at a level crossing when their car was struck by a train.
1976 – Heather Bannerman crashed into the front gate at Emmerdale Farm after borrowing her husband's car.
1977 – A storm broke over Beckindale, and Ray and Sarah Oswell sought refuge at Emmerdale Farm after their cottage was destroyed by a falling tree.
1977 – A fire broke out at Emmerdale Farm, and the Beckindale Volunteer Fire Service arrived to fight the blaze; a firefighter was severely burned.
1977 – A fire broke out in the village, attributed to tourists staying in a barn.
1978 – An explosion at a mine trapped the vicar's son, Clive Hinton, and his friends Ian and Rod. Clive and Rod were found unconscious, and Ian escaped with cuts and bruises.
1978 – Steve Hawker and Pip Coulter robbed The Woolpack and left Amos Brearly and Henry Wilks locked in the cellar. The teenagers went to Emmerdale Farm, where they held Sam Pearson at gunpoint. To save her father, Annie Sugden gave them a getaway car.

text:
1981 – Farmer Enoch Tolly was killed in a tractor accident.
1982 – Enraged when he was sacked from NY Estates by Alan Turner, Jackie Merrick set fire to one of NY's caravans.
1985 – Jackie Merrick was knocked off his motorbike by Alan Turner's Land Rover, and spent five months in hospital with multiple fractures.
1986 – Pat Sugden died when she crashed her car down a hillside after she swerved to avoid a flock of sheep.
1987 – Jackie Merrick fell down a disused mineshaft whilst trying to rescue a stray sheep.
1988 – Phil Pearce left old rags at Crossgill Farm; they caught fire, trapping Annie Sugden inside.
1989 – Quarryman Dennis Rigg was crushed to death by Joe Sugden's bull when he threatened to evict the Sugdens.
1989 – Jackie Merrick accidentally shot himself whilst hunting a fox for a £10 bet.

text:
1990 – Frank and Kim Tate arrived home to find the Home Farm barn conversion had been set afire. Although Michael Feldmann was suspected, the culprit was farm labourer Jock McDonald.
1990 – Kate Sugden struck and killed Pete Whiteley when she drove home from Hotten.
1990 – A chemical tanker crashed into the village, trapping Amos Brearly in the Woolpack cellar.
1993–1994 – A plane crashed in Beckindale, leaving most of the village in ruins and killing Archie Brooks, Elizabeth Pollard, Mark Hughes and Leonard Kempinski.
1994 – Shirley Turner was shot dead during the Home Farm raid by Reg Dawson, ex-husband of Viv Windsor.
1995 – Luke McAllister died when his van crashed into a wall and exploded in flames.
1996 – Dave Glover died in a fire at Home Farm after he attended the wedding of Biff Fowler and Dave's sister, Linda.
1997 – At the engagement party for Steve Marchant and Kim Tate, after Lord Alex Oakwell snorted cocaine and took Linda Fowler for a late-night drive. As Linda fought off his advances, he crashed through a fence and struck a tree. Alex moved the semi-conscious, bleeding Linda to the driver's seat, wiped his fingerprints off the steering wheel and left her to die.
1998 – Vic Windsor died on Christmas Day when he struck his head on an ice-cream chest freezer in an attempt to prevent an armed Billy Hopwood from robbing the post office.
1999 – Graham Clark killed Rachel Hughes, pushing her off a cliff.

text:
2000 – A van and minibus collided in the village. Van driver Pete Collins died at the scene, and minibus passenger Butch Dingle died in hospital the next day.
2000 – Longtime character Sarah Sugden died in a barn fire set by her adopted son, Andy. Sarah's lover, Richie Carter, was trapped in the barn but was rescued by Sarah's husband Jack.
2001 – School headmistress Jean Strickland was struck and killed by a stolen car driven by Marc Reynolds, a student returning home from a night out with friends.
2003–2004 – A storm pounded Emmerdale 10 years after the plane crash, leaving part of the village in ruins with downed power lines and trees. Lightning struck The Woolpack's chimney, sending it through the roof into the bar and fatally injuring Tricia Dingle. Ashley Thomas and Louise Appleton were stranded on the road.
2005 – Max King died when the Land Rover in which he was a passenger crashed into a brick wall and exploded. Driver Andy Sugden escaped unharmed, giving the police a false account of the accident to avoid prosecution.
2006 – The Kings River show home was destroyed by explosions from a gas leak. Three people died; Noreen Bell and estate agent David Brown were killed in the explosion, and Dawn Woods died in hospital from internal injuries.
2006 – Tom King was murdered on Christmas Day by his son, Carl, who struck him on the head with a statue and pushed him out a window.
2007 – DCI Grace Barraclough was killed when she was hit by a lorry on her way to the police station to report Carl's murder of his father.
2007 – Victoria Sugden threatened to burn down the family home if her father (Jack) and adoptive brother (Andy) did not tell her who killed her mother. Andy admitted he was responsible, but the fuel she had spread ignited when the boiler fired up; the house was gutted, but the family survived.
2008 – Matthew King was killed when his van crashed into a wall while he tried to run over his brother, Carl. The brothers were fighting after Carl ruined Matthew's wedding to Anna De Souza earlier that day.

text:
2010 – Aaron Livesy and Jackson Walsh went out with Paddy Kirk and Marlon Dingle. After an argument with Aaron, Jackson's van stalled on railway tracks and was struck by a freight train; he was paralysed from the neck down.
2011 – A fire set by corrupt policeman Nick Henshall spread through the village, killing Terry Woods and Viv Hope.
2012 – On their way to a hotel (booked by their son after their reconciliation), John and Moira Barton's Land Rover hit a patch of black ice and stopped at the edge of a ravine. Although Moira (the passenger) was rescued by Declan Macey and Katie Sugden, the car fell into the ravine with John trapped inside; he died in hospital.
2012 – On Emmerdale's 40th anniversary, Carl King was killed with a brick by romantic rival Cameron Murray after he tried to rape former lover Chas Dingle.
2013 – Genesis Walker's car ran off a country road and into a ravine during a high-speed chase by Cameron Murray and Debbie Dingle after Genesis overheard Cameron admit that he murdered Carl King. Cameron pulled the semi-conscious Gennie out of the car and suffocated her.
2013 – On Emmerdale's 41st anniversary, Cameron Murray escaped from prison and held villagers hostage in The Woolpack. Alicia Harding was shot, and in a showdown in the flooded Woolpack cellar with Debbie, Chas and Marlon Dingle (who were rescued) Cameron was electrocuted.
2014 – During an argument Belle Dingle pushed Gemma Andrews, who fell and hit her head on a stone. They walked away, but on her way home Gemma fell and was rushed to hospital where she died.
2014 – Donna Windsor threw herself and Gary North from a multi-storey car park to their deaths.
2014 – Declan Macey shot Robbie Lawson dead in an attempt to kill Charity Macey.
2015 – During an argument, Chrissie Sugden set her husband Robert's car on fire. The fire caused gas canisters to explode, sending a helicopter crashing into the village hall during Debbie Dingle and Pete Barton's wedding reception. Ruby Haswell, Val Pollard and the helicopter pilot were killed.
2015 – Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) is shot outside The Woolpack by an unknown assailant in front of Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter); four weeks later, a flashback episode revealed the events of that night. Ross Barton (Michael Parr) shot him after Ross agreed with Andy Sugden (Kelvin Fletcher) to kill the other's brother. Ashley Thomas (John Middleton) might have dementia and Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) cheated on his wife, Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry), with Tess (Nicola Stephenson).
2016 – After collapsing from septicaemia following extensive self-harm, Aaron Livesy reveals to his former lover Robert Sugden that he has been repeatedly raped by his father Gordon Livesy from age 8 onwards. Gordon denies the accusation publicly, but has confirmed to Chas Dingle that it is true.
2016 – In one of the biggest disasters in Emmerdale, a multi-car pile-up on the Hotten bypass causes for Aaron Dingle, Robert Sugden, Paddy Kirk, Rhona Goskirk, Pierce Harris, James Barton and Ashley Thomas to be involved in a horrible accident and leaving the lives of Aaron, Rhona and James hanging in the balance, with James succumbing to his injuries. The accident was caused by Emma Barton pushing James over a road bridge, hitting Ashley Thomas' car.

text: Audience

text: This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: An average Emmerdale episode generally attracts 6–8 million viewers, making it one of Britain's most popular television programmes. During the 1990s, the series had an average of 10–11 million viewers per episode. On 30 December 1993, Emmerdale had its largest audience (18 million) when a plane crashed into the village. On 27 May 1997, 13 million viewers saw Frank Tate die of a heart attack after the return of wife Kim. On 20 October 1998, 12.5 million viewers saw The Woolpack explode after a fire.

text: The village storm on 1 January 2004 attracted 11.19 million viewers. 18 May 2004 episode in which Jack Sugden was shot by his adopted son, Andy, attracted 8.27 million viewers. On 17 March 2005, 9.39 million watched Shelly Williams fall from the Isle of Arran ferry. Zoe Tate left the show after 16 years on 22 September 2005 before 8.58 million viewers, marking her departure by blowing up Home Farm. On 13 July 2006, the Kings River house collapse was seen by 6.90 million viewers. Cain Dingle left on 21 September 2006, before an audience of 8.57 million viewers. On Christmas Day 2006, 7.69 million saw Tom King murdered on his wedding day. Billy Hopwood crashed his truck into a lake on 1 February 2007, attracting 8.15 million viewers. The end of the "Who Killed Tom King?" storyline on 17 May 2007, had an audience of 8.92 million.

text: On 14 January 2010, 9.96 million saw Mark Wylde shot dead by wife Natasha. Natasha's 27 October confession to daughter Maisie attracted an audience of nearly 8 million. On 13 January 2011, 9.15 million saw a fire kill Viv Hope and Terry Woods. The live 40th-anniversary episode on 17 October 2012, drew an audience of 8.83 million. On 16 October 2013, 8.37 million watched Cameron take the occupants of The Woolpack hostage and shoot Alicia. The next day, 9.28 million viewers saw Cameron Murray die.[15]

text: Awards and nominations

text: Locations

text: Location shooting was originally filmed in the village of Arncliffe in Littondale, a quiet valley in the Yorkshire Dales. The Falcon, the village hotel, served as the fictional Woolpack Inn. When the filming location became public it was moved to the village of Esholt in 1976, where it remained for 22 years.

text: Filming returned to Esholt for a one off episode in 2016 for the Ashley Thomas dementia special which aired December 2016. The location was used to represent Ashley's onset of dementia to the viewer.

text: The original Emmerdale Farm buildings are near the village of Leathley. Creskeld Hall, in Arthington, (Home Farm). The buildings are one of the few original filming locations used for the entire series, and have been involved in many storylines.

text: Construction of a purpose-built set began on the Harewood estate in 1996, and it has been used since 1997. The first scenes filmed on the set (the front of The Woolpack) were broadcast on 17 February 1998. The Harewood set is a replica of Esholt, with minor alterations.

text: The Harewood houses are timber-framed and stone-faced. The village is built on green-belt land, with its buildings classified as "temporary structures" which must be demolished within ten years unless new planning permission is received. There is no plan to demolish the set, and a new planning application has been drawn up. The set includes a church and churchyard, where the characters who have died on the series are buried.

text: Butlers Farm is Brookland Farm, a working farm in the nearby village of Eccup. Farmyard and building exteriors are filmed at Brookland, with interior house shots filmed in the studio.

text: Location filming is also done in the City of Leeds and other West Yorkshire locations; the fictional market town of Hotten is Otley, 10 miles North West of Leeds. Benton Park School in Rawdon and the primary school in Farnley were also used for filming. Interiors are primarily filmed at Yorkshire Television's Emmerdale Production Centre in Leeds, next to Yorkshire's Leeds Studios.[16] As of 28 March 2011, HD-capable studios in the ITV Studios building were used for most of the interior scenes.

text: Four farms have been featured on Emmerdale:

text:
"Original" Emmerdale Farm (1972–1993) – Belonged to the Sugden family for many years, until subsidence forced them to move. Filming location: Lindley House
Hawthorn Cottage (1993–1997) – Matt and Peggy's former home, the second Emmerdale Farm, was sold and converted into a quarry. Filming location: Bank Side Farm
Melby Farm (1997–2002) – A third Emmerdale Farm went bankrupt, and Jack moved into Annie's old cottage (Tenant’s Cottage) in the village. Filming location: Burden Head Farm
Butler’s Farm (2003 to present) – Acquired by Andy Sugden and Katie Addyman in 2003 before the Bartons took over in 2009. Filming location: Brookland Farm

text: Sponsors

text: Emmerdale's first sponsor (from 14 December 1999 to 20 February 2002) was Daz detergent, followed by Heinz Tomato Ketchup and Heinz salad cream from May 2003 to May 2005. Reckitt Benckiser took over until 2009, advertising Calgon, Air Wick, Veet, and Lemsip. Tombola Bingo underwrote the show from November 2009 to March 2012, followed by Bet365 Bingo until March 2014. McCain Foods began a two-year, £8 million sponsorship on 7 April 2014.[17]

text:
Start of sponsorship
End of sponsorship
Brand

1999
2002
Daz

2003
2005
Heinz Tomato Ketchup & Heinz Salad Cream

2005
2009
Reckitt Benckiser (Air Wick, Calgon, Veet & Lemsip)

2009
2012
Tombola

2012
2014
bet365 Bingo

2014
Present
McCain's

text: Longest-appearing actors

text: The thirteen actors who have appeared in the series for 20 years or more are listed in the table below. The longest-tenured actor is Chris Chittell who has played Eric Pollard for 31 years. The longest-tenured actress is Sheila Mercier, who played Annie Sugden for 22 years.

text:
Longest-appearing Emmerdale actors (as of 2017)

Rank
Actor
Character
Tenure

1
Chris Chittell
Eric Pollard
1986– (31 years)

2
Richard Thorp
Alan Turner
1982–2013 (31 years)

3
Clive Hornby
Jack Sugden
1980–2008 (28 years)

4
Stan Richards
Seth Armstrong
1978–2003, 2004 (25 years)

5
Steve Halliwell
Zak Dingle
1994– (23 years)

6
Sheila Mercier
Annie Sugden
1972–94, 1995, 1996, 2009 (22 years)

7
Jane Cox
Lisa Dingle
1996– (21 years)

8
Mark Charnock
Marlon Dingle
1996– (21 years)

9
Paula Tilbrook
Betty Eagleton
1994–2015 (21 years)

10
John Middleton
Ashley Thomas
1996–2017 (21 years)

11
Dominic Brunt
Paddy Kirk
1997– (20 years)

12
Kelvin Fletcher
Andy Sugden
1996–2016 (20 years)

13
James Hooton
Sam Dingle
1995–1998, 2000– (20 years)

text: Scheduling

text: Emmerdale was first broadcast two afternoons a week in 1972, and it later moved to a 19:00 slot. The number of episodes has increased, to its current six half-hour episodes each week. Each episode is filmed two to four weeks before it is broadcast on ITV.

text: Broadcast history

text:
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Weekly episodes

1972–1988, 1990–1997

2

1988–1990

2

1997–2000

3

2000–2004

5

2004–2008

6

2008–2009

5 (1 hour on Tuesdays)

2009–present

6

text: Overseas

text: Ireland

text: Emmerdale reaches viewers in the Republic of Ireland via UTV Ireland, which broadcasts the series simultaneously with ITV in the UK with a live feed from London. Breaking news on ITV would interrupt the broadcast. Emmerdale was broadcast during the day on RTÉ One from 1972 to 2001 before it moved to TV3. RTÉ were several months behind; for many years, they broadcast the show five days a week (instead of ITV's three days a week) and took a break during the summer. As the series began a five-night week, RTÉ fell behind the ITV broadcasts; the gap between RTÉ One's last episode and TV3's first episode was about three months.[18]

text: Sweden

text: The series has appeared in Sweden as Hem till gården ("Home to the Farm") since the 1970s – originally on TV2 and since 1994 on TV4. Two episodes are broadcast weekdays at 11:35. Emmerdale is the most-watched daytime non-news programme in Sweden, attracting 150,000 to 200,000 viewers daily.[19] Episodes are repeated overnight on TV4 and in prime time on digital channel TV4 Guld.

text: Finland

text: The programme appears in Finland on MTV3 on primetime, 17:55–18:25 and 18:25–18:55 Monday to Friday, two episodes a day, with repeats of each episode the following weekday morning between 9:00 and 11:00. Episodes originally aired in the UK in June and July 2016 were broadcast in Finland in March 2017. Emmerdale attracts an average of 350,000 to 450,000 viewers per episode, and is the most watched non-Finnish every-weekday program in Finnish television.[20]

text: New Zealand

text: Emmerdale is broadcast in New Zealand weekdays on ONE, with an hour-long episode Monday to Thursday and a half-hour episode on Friday from 12:30 to 13:00. It is the second-most-watched daytime programme, after the news.[21] Episodes are broadcast a month behind ITV's.

text: Australia

text: Emmerdale was broadcast in Australia for the first time in July 2006, when UKTV began airing the 2006 series with episode 4288.[22][23] As of April 2016, UKTV episodes are from July 2014, twenty one months behind the UK airings.

text: Producers

text:
David Goddard (16 October 1972 – 16 January 1973)
Peter Holmans (22 January 1973 – 17 July 1973)
Robert D. Cardona (23 July 1973 – 18 May 1976)
Michael Glynn (3 January 1977 – 10 January 1980)
Anne W Gibbons (15 January 1980 – 29 September 1983)
Richard Handford (4 October 1983 – 28 August 1986)
Michael Russell (2 September 1986 – 24 March 1988)
Stuart Doughty (30 March 1988 – 31 December 1991)
Morag Bain (2 January 1992 – 14 December 1993)
Nicholas Prosser (16 December 1993 – 29 November 1994)
Mervyn Watson (1 December 1994 – 6 August 1998)
Kieran Roberts (11 August 1998 – 13 April 2001)
Steve Frost (16 April 2001 – 25 February 2005)
Kathleen Beedles (28 February 2005 – 29 February 2008)[24]
Anita Turner (3 March 2008[25][26] – 13 March 2009)[27]
Gavin Blyth (16 March 2009 – 8 April 2011)[28][29]
Stuart Blackburn (11 April 2011 – 4 April 2013)[30]
Kate Oates (4 April 2013 – December 2015)[31]
Iain MacLeod (January 2016 − present)[32]


document_title: Military budget of the United States

question_text: who has the most control over the us defense spending

question_tokens: who has the most control over the us defense spending

root

text: Military budget of the United States

text: Budget by Year[edit]

text: The following is historical spending on defense from 1996-2015, spending for 2014-15 is estimated.[2] The Defense Budget is shown in billions of dollars and total budget in trillions of dollars. The percentage of the total U.S. federal budget spent on defense is indicated in the third row, and change in defense spending from the previous year in the final row.

tag: p

text:
Decades
1990s
2000s
2010s

Years
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15

Defense Budget (Billions)
266
270
271
292
304
335
362
456
491
506
556
625
696
698
721
717
681
610
614
637

Total Budget (Trillions)
1.58
1.64
1.69
1.78
1.82
1.96
2.09
2.27
2.41
2.58
2.78
2.86
3.32
4.08
3.48
3.51
3.58
3.48
3.64
3.97

Defense Budget %
16.8
16.5
16.0
16.4
16.7
17.1
17.3
20.1
20.4
19.6
20.0
21.9
20.9
17.1
20.7
20.4
19.1
17.5
16.8
16.0

Defense Spending % Change
-0.1
+1.6
+0.2
+7.8
+4.0
+10.1
+8.2
+26.0
+7.6
+3.1
+10.0
+12.5
+11.3
+0.2
+3.4
-0.6
-5.0
-10.5
+0.6
+3.8

tag: table

text: Budget for 2011[edit]

text: For the 2011 fiscal year, the president's base budget for the Department of Defense and spending on "overseas contingency operations" combine to bring the sum to US$664.84 billion.[3][4]

text: When the budget was signed into law on 28 October 2009, the final size of the Department of Defense's budget was $680 billion, $16 billion more than President Obama had requested.[5] An additional $37 billion supplemental bill to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was expected to pass in the spring of 2010, but has been delayed by the House of Representatives after passing the Senate.[6][7]

text: Emergency and supplemental spending[edit]

text: The recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were largely funded through supplementary spending bills outside the federal budget, which are not included in the military budget figures listed below.[8] However, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were categorized as "overseas contingency operations" in the starting of the fiscal year 2010, and the budget is included in the federal budget.[citation needed]

text: By the end of 2008, the U.S. had spent approximately $900 billion in direct costs on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The government also incurred indirect costs, which include interests on additional debt and incremental costs, financed by the Veterans Administration, of caring for more than 33,000 wounded. Some experts estimate the indirect costs will eventually exceed the direct costs.[9] As of June 2011, the total cost of the wars was approximately $1.3 trillion.[10]

text: By title[edit]

text: The federally budgeted (see below) military expenditure of the United States Department of Defense for fiscal year 2013 are as follows. While data is provided from the 2015 budget, data for 2014 and 2015 is estimated, and thus data is shown for the last year for which definite data exists (2013).[2]

text:
Components
Funding
Change, 2012 to 2013

Operations and maintenance
$258.277 billion
-9.9%

Military Personnel
$153.531 billion
-3.0%

Procurement
$97.757 billion
-17.4%

Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation
$63.347 billion
-12.1%

Military Construction
$8.069 billion
-29.0%

Family Housing
$1.483 billion
-12.2%

Other Miscellaneous Costs
$2.775 billion
-59.5%

Atomic energy defense activities
$17.424 billion
-4.8%

Defense-related activities
$7.433 billion
-3.8%

Total Spending
$610.096 billion
-10.5%

text: By entity[edit]

text:
Entity
2010 Budget request[11]
Percentage of Total
Notes

Army
$244.8 billion
31.8%

Marine Corps
$40.6 billion
4%
Total Budget taken allotted from Department of Navy

Navy
$142.2 billion

excluding Marine Corps

Air Force
$170.6 billion
22%

Defense Intelligence
$80.1 billion[12]
3.3%
Because of classified nature, budget is an estimate and may not be the actual figure

Defense Wide Joint Activities
$118.7 billion
15.5%

text: Programs spending more than $1.5 billion[edit]

text: The Department of Defense's FY 2011 $137.5 billion procurement and $77.2 billion RDT&E budget requests included several programs worth more than $1.5 billion.

text:
Program
2011 Budget request[13]
Change, 2010 to 2011

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
$11.4 billion
+2.1%

Missile Defense Agency (THAAD, Aegis, GMD, PAC-3)
$9.9 billion
+7.3%

Virginia class submarine
$5.4 billion
+28.0%

Brigade Combat Team Modernization
$3.2 billion
+21.8%

DDG 51 Burke-class Aegis Destroyer
$3.0 billion
+19.6%

P–8A Poseidon
$2.9 billion
−1.6%

V-22 Osprey
$2.8 billion
−6.5%

Carrier Replacement Program
$2.7 billion
+95.8%

F/A-18E/F Hornet
$2.0 billion
+17.4%

Predator and Reaper Unmanned Aerial System
$1.9 billion
+57.8%

Littoral combat ship
$1.8 billion
+12.5%

CVN Refueling and Complex Overhaul
$1.7 billion
−6.0%

Chemical Demilitarization
$1.6 billion
−7.0%

RQ-4 Global Hawk
$1.5 billion
+6.7%

Space-Based Infrared System
$1.5 billion
+54.0%

text: Other military-related expenditures[edit]

text: This does not include many military-related items that are outside of the Defense Department budget, such as nuclear weapons research, maintenance, cleanup, and production, which are in the Atomic Energy Defense Activities section,[16] Veterans Affairs, the Treasury Department's payments in pensions to military retirees and widows and their families, interest on debt incurred in past wars, or State Department financing of foreign arms sales and militarily-related development assistance. Neither does it include defense spending that is not military in nature, such as the Department of Homeland Security, counter-terrorism spending by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and intelligence-gathering spending by NSA.

text: Audit of 2011 budget[edit]

text: Again in 2011, the GAO could not "render an opinion on the 2011 consolidated financial statements of the federal government", with a major obstacle again being "serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense (DOD) that made its financial statements unauditable".[17]

text: In December 2011, the GAO found that "neither the Navy nor the Marine Corps have implemented effective processes for reconciling their FBWT." According to the GAO, "An agency’s FBWT account is similar in concept to a corporate bank account. The difference is that instead of a cash balance, FBWT represents unexpended spending authority in appropriations." In addition, "As of April 2011, there were more than $22 billion unmatched disbursements and collections affecting more than 10,000 lines of accounting."[18]

text: Audit of implementation of budget for 2010[edit]

text: The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) was unable to provide an audit opinion on the 2010 financial statements of the US Government because of 'widespread material internal control weaknesses, significant uncertainties, and other limitations'.[19] The GAO cited as the principal obstacle to its provision of an audit opinion 'serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense that made its financial statements unauditable'.[19]

text: In FY 2010, six out of thirty-three DoD reporting entities received unqualified audit opinions.[20]

text: Chief financial officer and Under Secretary of Defense Robert F. Hale acknowledged enterprise-wide problems with systems and processes,[21] while the DoD's Inspector General reported 'material internal control weaknesses ... that affect the safeguarding of assets, proper use of funds, and impair the prevention and identification of fraud, waste, and abuse'.[22] Further management discussion in the FY 2010 DoD Financial Report states 'it is not feasible to deploy a vast number of accountants to manually reconcile our books' and concludes that 'although the financial statements are not auditable for FY 2010, the Department's financial managers are meeting warfighter needs'.[23]

text: Budget for 2016[edit]

text: On February 9, 2016, the US Department of Defense under President Obama released a statement outlining the proposed 2016 and 2017 defense spending budgets that "[reflect] the priorities necessary for our force today and in the future to best serve and protect our nation in a rapidly changing security environment."[24]

text:
Budget by Appropriation[24]

Components
Dollars In Billions

Military Personnel
138.6

Operation and Maintenance
244.4

Procurement
118.9

RDT&E
69.0

Revolving and Management Funds
1.3

Military Construction
6.9

Family Housing
1.3

Total
580.3

text:
Budget by Military Departments[24]

Departments
Dollars in Billions

Army
146.9

Navy
168.8

Air Force
161.8

Defense Wide
102.8

Total
580.3

text: Budget request for FY2019[edit]

text: In February 2018, the Pentagon requested $686 billion for FY 2019.[25]

text: Budget request for FY2018[edit]

text: On March 16, 2017 President Trump submitted his request to Congress for $639 billion in military spending—$54 billion—which represents a 10 percent increase—for FY 2018 as well as $30 billion for FY2017 which ends in September. With a total federal budget of $3.9 trillion for FY2018, the increase in military spending would result in deep cuts to many other federal agencies and domestic programs, as well as the State Department.[26][26][27][28][29][30] Trump had pledged to "rebuild" the military as part of his 2016 Presidential campaign.[31]

text: In April 2017, journalist Scot J. Paltrow raised concerns about the increase in spending with the Pentagon's history of "faulty accounting".[32]

text: On the 14th of July, H.R. 2810 the National Defense Authorization Act 2018 was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives 344 - 81, with 8 not voting. 60% of Democrats voted for this bill, which represented an 18% increase in defense spending. The Congress increased the budget to total 696 billion dollars.

text: Budget request for FY2017[edit]

text: The currently available budget request for 2017 was filed on February 9, 2016,[24][33] under now former-President Barack Obama.

text: The press release of the proposal specifies the structure and goals for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 budget:

text: The FY 2017 budget reflects recent strategic threats and changes that have taken place in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Russian aggression, terrorism by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and others, and China’s island building and claims of sovereignty in international waters all necessitate changes in our strategic outlook and in our operational commitments. Threats and actions originating in Iran and North Korea negatively affect our interests and our allies. These challenges have sharpened the focus of our planning and budgeting.[24]

text: The proposal also includes a comparison of the 2016 and the proposed 2017 request amounts, a summary of acquisitions requested for 2017 and enacted in 2016, and provides in detail a breakdown of specific programs to be funded.

text: Investments[edit]

text:
FY 2016 Enacted
FY 2017 Request
Change

Aircraft and Related Systems
50.6
45.3
-5.3

C4I Systems
7.1
7.4
0.3

Ground Systems
9.9
9.8
-0.1

Missile Defense Programs
9.1
8.5
-0.6

Missiles and Munitions
12.7
13.9
1.2

Mission Support
52.9
52.4
-0.5

Science & Technology (S&T)
13.0
12.5
-0.5

Shipbuilding and Maritime Systems
27.5
27.0
-0.5

Space-Based Systems
7.0
7.1
0.1

Rescissions
-1.8
-
+1.8

Total
188
183.9
-4.1

text: Amounts are in $ billions.

text: Major Acquisition Programs[edit]

text: These are the top 25 DoD weapon programs described in detail:

text:
FY 2016
FY 2017

Qty
$
Qty
$

Aircraft

F-35
Joint Strike Fighter
68
11.6
63
10.5

KC-46A
Tanker
12
3.0
15
3.3

P-8A
Poseidon
17
3.4
11
2.2

V-22
Osprey
20
1.6
16
1.5

E-2D AHE
Advanced Hawkeye
5
1.2
6
1.4

AH-64E
Apache Helicopter
64
1.4
52
1.1

C/HC/MC-130J
Hercules
29
2.4
14
1.3

UH-60
Black Hawk Helicopter
107
1.8
36
1.0

CH-53K
King Stallion Helicopter
--
0.6
2
0.8

MQ-4C
Triton
4
1.0
2
0.8

H-1 Upgrades
Bell Helicopter
29
0.9
24
0.8

NGJ
Next Generation Jammer Increment 1
--
0.4
--
0.6

CH-47F
Chinook Helicopter
39
1.1
22
0.7

Missile Defense/Missiles

BMDS
Ballistic Missile Defense
--
7.7
--
6.9

Trident II
Trident II Missile Modifications
--
1.2
--
1.2

AMRAAM
Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile
429
0.7
419
0.7

Ships

SSN 774
VIRGINIA Submarine
2
5.7
2
5.3

DDG 51
AEGIS Destroyer
2
4.4
2
3.5

CVN 78
FORD Aircraft Carrier
--
2.8
--
2.8

ORR
Ohio Replacement
--
1.4
--
1.9

LHA-6
Amphibious Assault Ship
--
0.5
1
1.6

LCS
Littoral Combat Ship
3
1.8
2
1.6

Space

AEHF
Advanced Extremely High Frequency Satellite
--
0.6
--
0.9

EELV
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle
4
1.5
5
1.8

Trucks

JLTV
Joint Light Tactical Vehicle
804
0.4
2,020
0.7

text: $ in billions, Qty being the number of items requested.

text: Science and Technology Program[edit]

text: This program's purpose is to "invest in and develop capabilities that advance the technical superiority of the U.S. Military to counter new and emerging threats.".[33] It has a budget of $12.5 billion, but is apart from the overall Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) portfolio, which compromises $71.8 billion. Efforts funded apply to the Obama administration's refocusing of the US military to Asia, identifying investments to "sustain and advance [the] DoD's military dominance for the 21st century", counter the "technological advances of U.S. foes",[33] and support Manufacturing Initiative institutes. A breakdown of the amounts provided, by tier of research, is provided:

text:
Program
FY 2016 Request
FY 2016 Enacted
FY 2017 Request
Change (FY16 Enacted - FY17 Request)

Basic Research
2.1
2.3
2.1
-0.2

Applied Research
4.7
5.0
4.8
-0.2

Advanced Technology Development
5.5
5.7
5.6
-0.1

Total
12.3
13.0
12.5
-0.5

text: Total Budget by Department[edit]

text:
Total Budget
FY 2016 Enacted
FY 2017 Request
Change

Army
146,928,044
148,033,950
+1,105,906

Navy
168,786,798
164,861,078
-3,925,720

Air Force
161,783,330
166,879,239
+5,095,909

Defense-Wide
102,801,512
102,927,320
+125,808

Total
580,299,684
582,701,587
+2,401,903

text: Amounts in Thousands of $USD

text: Total Budget of Military[edit]

text:
Total Budget
FY 2016 Enacted
FY 2017 Request
Change

Military Personnel
138,552,886
138,831,498
+278,612

Operation and Maintenance
244,434,932
250,894,310
+6,459,378

Procurement
118,866,320
112,081,088
-6,785,232

RDT&E*
69,009,764
71,765,940
+2,756,176

Revolving and Management Funds
1,264,782
1,512,246
+247,464

Military Construction
6,909,712
6,296,653
-613,059

Family Housing
1,261,288
1,319,852
+58,564

Total
580,299,684
582,701,587
+2,401,903

text: *Research, Development, Test and Evaluation

text: Amounts in thousands of $USD

text: Funding of payments and benefits[edit]

text: This portion of the military budget comprises roughly one third to one half of the total defense budget, considering only military personnel or additionally including civilian personnel, respectively. These expenditures "will likely always be, the single largest expense category for the Department." Since 2001, military pay and benefits have increased by 85%, but remained roughly one third of the total budget due to an overall increased budget. Military pay remains at about the 70th percentile compared to the private sector to attract sufficient amounts of qualified personnel.[34]

text:
Military Pay and Benefits Funding
FY 2016 Enacted
FY 2017 Request

Military Personnel Appropriations
128.7
128.9

Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Care Accruals
6.6
6.4

Defense Health Program
32.9
33.8

DoD Education Activity
3.1
2.9

Family Housing
1.3
1.3

Commissary Subsidy
1.4
1.2

Other Benefit Programs
3.5
3.4

Military Pay and Benefits Funding
177.5
177.9

Civilian Pay and Benefits Funding
71.8
72.9

Total Pay and Benefits Funding
249.3
250.8

DoD Base Budget Authority
521.7
523.9

Military Pay and Benefits as % of Budget
34.0%
34.0%

Total Pay and Benefits as % of Budget
47.8%
47.9%

text: Funding the military health system[edit]

text: The request for 2017 amounts to $48.8 billion. The system has 9.4 million beneficiaries, including active, retired, and eligible Reserve Component military personnel and their families, and dependent survivors.[34]

text:
Program
FY 2017 Request

Defense Health (DHP)
33.5

Military Personnel
8.6

Military Construction
0.3

Health Care Accrual
6.4

Unified Medical Budget
48.8

text: Support service contractors[edit]

text: The role of support service contractors has increased since 2001 and in 2007 payments for contractor services exceeded investments in equipment for the armed forces for the first time.[35] In the 2010 budget, the support service contractors will be reduced from the current 39 percent of the workforce down to the pre-2001 level of 26 percent.[36] In a Pentagon review of January 2011, service contractors were found to be "increasingly unaffordable."[37]

text: Military budget and total US federal spending[edit]

text: The U.S. Department of Defense budget accounted in fiscal year 2010 for about 19% of the United States federal budgeted expenditures and 28% of estimated tax revenues. Including non-DOD expenditures, military spending was approximately 28–38% of budgeted expenditures and 42–57% of estimated tax revenues.[citation needed] According to the Congressional Budget Office, defense spending grew 9% annually on average from fiscal year 2000–2009.[38]

text: Because of constitutional limitations, military funding is appropriated in a discretionary spending account. (Such accounts permit government planners to have more flexibility to change spending each year, as opposed to mandatory spending accounts that mandate spending on programs in accordance with the law, outside of the budgetary process.) In recent years, discretionary spending as a whole has amounted to about one-third of total federal outlays.[39] Department of Defense spending's share of discretionary spending was 50.5% in 2003, and has risen to between 53% and 54% in recent years.[40]

text: For FY 2010, Department of Defense spending amounts to 4.7% of GDP.[41] Because the U.S. GDP has grown over time, the military budget can rise in absolute terms while shrinking as a percentage of the GDP. For example, the Department of Defense budget is slated to be $664 billion in 2010 (including the cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan previously funded through supplementary budget legislation[42][43]), higher than at any other point in American history, but still 1.1–1.4% lower as a percentage of GDP than the amount spent on military during the peak of Cold-War military spending in the late 1980s.[41] Admiral Mike Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has called four percent an "absolute floor".[44] This calculation does not take into account some other military-related non-DOD spending, such as Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and interest paid on debt incurred in past wars, which has increased even as a percentage of the national GDP.

text: In 2015, Pentagon and related spending totaled $598 billion. Military expenditures exceed the total amount of funds allocated to support social security, transportation, unemployment, labor, science, energy and the environment, international affairs, housing, veteran’s benefits, medicare, education.

text: In addition, the United States will spend at least $179 billion over the fiscal years of 2010-2018 on its nuclear arsenal, averaging $20 billion per year. Despite President Barack Obama’s attempts in the media to reduce the scope of the current nuclear arms race, the U.S. intends to spend an additional $1 trillion over the next 30 years modernizing its nuclear arsenal.

text: In September 2017 the United States Senate followed President Donald Trump’s plan to expand military spending, which will boost spending to $700 billion, about 91.4% of which will be spent on maintaining the armed forces and primary Pentagon costs.[45] Military spending is increasing regularly and more money is being spent every year on employee pay, operation and maintenance, and benefits including as health benefits. Methods to counteract rapidly increasing spending include shutting down bases, but that has been banned since an Obama administration Budget Act included a section that stopped just that.[46]

text: Federal waste[edit]

text: As of September 2014, the Department of Defense was estimated to have “$857 million in excess parts and supplies”.[47] This figure has risen over the past years, and of the Pentagon waste that has been calculated, two figures are especially worth mentioning: the expenditure of “$150 million on private villas for a handful of Pentagon employees in Afghanistan and the procurement of the JLENS air-defense balloon” which, throughout the program’s development over the past two decades, is estimated to have cost $2.7 billion.[47] Also, it is important to note that the JLENS air-balloon still does not function properly.

text: One problem with military spending is waste that comes from poor cost estimation. The armed forces are seemingly unable to properly estimate costs, which ends up wasting billions of dollars annually. What is more, there are instances such as in the research and development department where costs are underestimated, which leads to a waste of a different kind: time. Without the appropriate resources, researchers cannot do their job adequately. What this can lead to is employees not working as efficiently as possible.[48]

text: Comparison with other countries[edit]

text: The United States spends more on their defense budget than China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Kingdom, India, France, and Japan combined.[50] The 2009 U.S. military budget accounts for approximately 40% of global arms spending. The 2012 budget is 6–7 times larger than the $106 billion military budget of China. The United States and its close allies are responsible for two-thirds to three-quarters of the world's military spending (of which, in turn, the U.S. is responsible for the majority).[51][52][53] The US also maintains the largest number of military bases on foreign soil across the world.[54] While there are no freestanding foreign bases permanently located in the United States, there are now around 800 U.S. bases in foreign countries. Military spending makes up nearly 16% percent of entire federal spending and approximately half of discretionary spending. In a general sense discretionary spending (defense and non-defense spending) makes up one-third of the annual federal budget.[55]

text: In 2015, out of its budget of 1.11 trillion, the United States spent $598 billion on military. U.S. defense spending is equivalent to the next seven largest military budgets—India, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China—combined.

text: In 2017, the U.S. military budget is 773.5 billion and is estimated to increase in the upcoming years.

text: In 2005, the United States spent 4.06% of its GDP on its military (considering only basic Department of Defense budget spending), more than France's 2.6% and less than Saudi Arabia's 10%.[56]information 2006 This is historically low for the United States since it peaked in 1944 at 37.8% of GDP (it reached the lowest point of 3.0% in 1999–2001). Even during the peak of the Vietnam War the percentage reached a high of 9.4% in 1968.[57]

text: The US Military’s budget has plateaued in 2009, but is still considerably larger than any other military power.

text: As compared with other countries, the United States spends billions more than its closest competitor, China, and more than the next 5 countries, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, and France put together. Military spending is important to the Trump administration and it is unlikely that he has any reason to curb it. In addition, military spending is popular with 2017 House Speaker Paul Ryan, showing that U.S. military spending will continue to stay high as compared with other countries.[58]

text: Past commentary on military budget[edit]

text: In 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wrote that the U.S. should adjust its priorities and spending to address the changing nature of threats in the world: "What all these potential adversaries—from terrorist cells to rogue nations to rising powers—have in common is that they have learned that it is unwise to confront the United States directly on conventional military terms. The United States cannot take its current dominance for granted and needs to invest in the programs, platforms, and personnel that will ensure that dominance's persistence. But it is also important to keep some perspective. As much as the U.S. Navy has shrunk since the end of the Cold War, for example, in terms of tonnage, its battle fleet is still larger than the next 13 navies combined—and 11 of those 13 navies are U.S. allies or partners."[59] Secretary Gates announced some of his budget recommendations in April 2009.[60]

text: According to a 2009 Congressional Research Service there was a discrepancy between a budget that is declining as a percentage of GDP while the responsibilities of the DoD have not decreased and additional pressures on the military budget have arisen due to broader missions in the post-9/11 world, dramatic increases in personnel and operating costs, and new requirements resulting from wartime lessons in the Iraq War and Operation Enduring Freedom.[61]

text: Expenses for fiscal years 2001 through 2010 were analyzed by Russell Rumbaugh, a retired Army officer and ex-CIA military analyst, in a report for the Stimson Center.[62] Rumbaugh wrote: "Between 1981 and 1990, the Air Force bought 2,063 fighters. In contrast, between 2001 and 2010, it bought only 220. Yet between 2001 and 2010 the Air Force spent $38B of procurement funding just on fighter aircraft in inflation-adjusted dollars, compared with the $68B it spent between 1981 and 1990. In other words, the Air Force spent 55 percent as much money to get 10 percent as many fighters." As Adam Weinstein explained one of the report's findings: "Of the roughly $1 trillion spent on gadgetry since 9/11, 22 percent of it came from 'supplemental' war funding — annual outlays that are voted on separately from the regular defense budget." [63]

text: Most of the $5 billion in budget "cuts" for 2013 that were mandated by Congress in 2012 really only shifted expenses from the general military budget to the Afghanistan war budget. Declaring that nearly 65,000 troops were temporary rather than part of the permanent forces resulted in the reallocation of $4 billion in existing expenses to this different budget.[64]

text: In May 2012, as part of Obama's East Asia "pivot", his 2013 national military request moved funding from the Army and Marines to favor the Navy, but the Congress has resisted this.[65]

text: Reports emerged in February 2014 that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was planning to trim the defense budget by billions of dollars. The secretary in his first defense budget planned to limit pay rises, increase fees for healthcare benefits, freeze the pay of senior officers, and reduce military housing allowances. A reduction in the number of soldiers serving in the U.S. Army would reduce the size of the force to levels not seen since prior to the start of World War II.[66]

text: In July 2014, American Enterprise Institute scholar Michael Auslin opined in the National Review that the Air Force needs to be fully funded as a priority, due to the air superiority, global airlift, and long-range strike capabilities it provides.[67]

text: In January 2015 Defense Department published its internal study on how to save $125 billion on its military budget from 2016 to 2020 by renegotiating vendor contracts and pushing for stronger deals, and by offering workers early retirement and retraining.[68]

text: 2012 fiscal cliff[edit]

text: On 5 December 2012, the Department of Defense announced it was planning for automatic spending cuts, which include $500 billion and an additional $487 billion due to the 2011 Budget Control Act, due to the fiscal cliff.[69][70][71][72][73] According to Politico, the Department of Defense declined to explain to the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, which controls federal spending, what its plans were regarding the fiscal cliff planning.[74]

text: This was after half a dozen defense experts either resigned from Congress or lost their reelection fights.[75]

text: Lawrence Korb has noted that given recent trends military entitlements and personnel costs will take up the entire defense budget by 2039.[76]

text: GAO audits[edit]

text: The Government Accountability Office was unable to provide an audit opinion on the 2010 financial statements of the U.S. government due to "widespread material internal control weaknesses, significant uncertainties, and other limitations."[77] The GAO cited as the principal obstacle to its provision of an audit opinion "serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense that made its financial statements unauditable."[78]

text: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, seven out of 33 DoD reporting entities received unqualified audit opinions.[79] Under Secretary of Defense Robert F. Hale acknowledged enterprise-wide weaknesses with controls and systems.[80] Further management discussion in the FY 2011 DoD Financial Report states "we are not able to deploy the vast numbers of accountants that would be required to reconcile our books manually".[79] Congress has established a deadline of FY 2017 for the DoD to achieve audit readiness.[81]

text: For FYs 1998-2010 the Department of Defense's financial statements were either unauditable or such that no audit opinion could be expressed.[82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93] Several years behind other government agencies, the first results from an army of about 2,400 contracted DoD auditors are expected on November 15, 2018.[94]

text: Reform[edit]

text: In a statement of 6 January 2011 Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates stated: "This department simply cannot risk continuing down the same path – where our investment priorities, bureaucratic habits and lax attitude towards costs are increasingly divorced from the real threats of today, the growing perils of tomorrow and the nation's grim financial outlook." Gates has proposed a budget that, if approved by Congress, would reduce the costs of many DOD programs and policies, including reports, the IT infrastructure, fuel, weapon programs, DOD bureaucracies, and personnel.[95]

text: The 2015 expenditure for Army research, development and acquisition changed from $32 billion projected in 2012 for FY15, to $21 billion for FY15 expected in 2014.[96]