Sustainability and National Security

ment that exceeds a threshold of $25M (DA G8 2010a,
E-2). The CBA is now an integral step in the program-
ming process as requirements are vetted through each
stage of justification. The Deputy Assistant Secretary
of the Army for Cost and Economics (DASA CE) has
developed a Cost Benefit Analysis guide and provides
blocks of instruction to teach resource and program
managers how to build CBAs using a standardized
format. The standardized format is a necessity to
compare competing requirements against the same
standard. In addition, with the fierce competition for
funding, reviewers at all levels have begun to require
a CBA. This makes it the ideal opportunity to insert
sustainability considerations in the funding analysis.
The basic goal of the CBA is balance as shown in the
following diagram (DASA CE 2010, 7).

Figure 2. Cost Benefit Analysis

This diagram is taken directly from the DASA CE
Cost Benefit Analysis Guide and demonstrates that
total benefits must equal or outweigh total costs. In
the center of the diagram are the 8 steps of the stan-