A must take class if you have any plans of becoming a civil servant, defense contractor, or work for/own a company that receives defense funding. The Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process translates the national security strategy, national defense strategy, and national military strategy into trained and ready forces for combatant commands -- units of personnel and equipment that mobilize, deploy, conduct and sustain operations, redeploy, and demobilize. Consisting of four distinct but overlapping phases, the annual process serves as the framework for the Department of Defense civilian and military leaders to decide which programs and force management requirements to fund based on strategic objectives. Current Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin III has requested a 2023 budget of $773 billion in order to 1) maintain a combat credible force to defend the homeland; 2) marshal America’s next generation of technology; 3) effectively maintain readiness, and 4) take care of the men, women and family members of the U.S. military. This class will examine the PPBE process by discussing this budget along with the strategies, decisions, and politics that created it. Students will gain a general grasp of the PPBE process and learn to think critically when developing and/or interpreting strategies.