PPBE and the POM, explained

The Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process is how the Department of Defense (DoD) turns strategy into a budget request. DoD Directive (DoDD) 7045.14, dated January 25, 2013 and incorporating Change 1 of August 29, 2017, calls PPBE the annual resource allocation process for DoD within a quadrennial planning cycle. The budget covers 1 year, and the program covers an additional 4 years. The Directives Division listing, as of October 12, 2026, still shows that edition. A Congressional Research Service (CRS) primer updated December 6, 2024 adds that a cycle typically begins more than two years before the year of execution.

The four phases and who leads them

The directive assigns each phase. The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy conducts planning. The Director, Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) issues programming guidance, runs the program review, and publishes the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP). The Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) runs the budget review, prepares the budget for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and justifies it to Congress. The DoD Components conduct annual execution reviews.

CRS names each phase's product. Planning produces the Defense Planning Guidance (DPG). Programming produces the Program Objective Memorandum (POM). Budgeting produces the Budget Estimate Submission (BES), which covers the first year of the POM in budget terms. The final product typically goes to OMB in December, and the President's budget usually reaches Congress in February. CRS also records that Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara created the Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System in 1961, and that DoD renamed it PPBE in 2003.

What the POM is

The directive's glossary calls the POM the final product of the programming process. A Component's POM displays the Military Departments' resource allocation decisions in response to planning and programming guidance. CRS describes it as a five-year funding plan that adjusts programs and describes the risks of unfunded, underfunded, or overfunded ones.

The commission's March 2024 final report gives the mechanics. The POM is a formal proposal from a Component to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, built on toplines from the Fiscal Guidance. It goes to CAPE as an electronic database, with funding by budget line item by year across the FYDP. Review decisions are recorded in Program Decision Memoranda, also called Resource Management Decisions. The BES then translates the POM into the formal budget structure.

The directive also limits access: all PPBE documents are, at a minimum, for official use only, and access by firms seeking DoD contracts may jeopardize procurement integrity.

The Future Years Defense Program

The directive defines the FYDP as DoD's program and financial plan as approved by the Secretary of Defense. It arrays cost data, manpower, and force structure over 5 years, with force structure for 3 more, by major force program. The decisions of all PPBE phases are reflected in it.

10 U.S.C. 221, in the 2024 edition of the code, sets delivery. The Secretary submits a FYDP not later than five days after the President's budget goes to Congress. It covers the budget year and at least the four succeeding fiscal years, and it must be available as an unclassified electronic database, with classified material in an annex. Public Law 115-91 added the five-day deadline and the database in December 2017. The commission report adds that the FYDP rolls up into 12 Major Force Programs, identified by the first two digits of each program element.

Annual or two-year: the sources differ

A Defense Acquisition University article says section 1405 of the FY1986 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) required biennial budgets starting with FY1988/FY1989. Section 1001 of the FY2008 NDAA repealed that requirement, and DoD reverted to an annual programming and budgeting cycle with the FY2010 budget request. Congress appropriated annually throughout.

Financial Management Regulation Volume 2A, Chapter 1, dated October 2008 and still posted as of April 2026, describes the older model: a fully institutionalized biennial cycle, with a full POM and BES in the first year and Change Proposals in the off-year. The 2013 directive says programs and budgets are formulated annually.

The commission kept annual budget submissions and judged a biennial shift not likely to be implemented. The report notes that cycles overlap: while building the FY 2027 POM, DoD may be finalizing the FY 2026 BES, defending FY 2025 before Congress, and executing FY 2024. An issue often takes two years, and sometimes four or more, to pass through every phase.

The 2024 reform commission

Section 1004 of the FY2022 NDAA created the 14-member commission. A CRS Insight dated May 31, 2024 records an interim report on August 15, 2023 and the final report on March 6, 2024. The final report reflects 24 months of research and more than 400 interviews.

The report makes 28 recommendations in five areas: aligning budgets to strategy, innovation and adaptability, DoD's relationship with Congress, business systems and data analytics, and the resourcing workforce. Recommendation 1 replaces PPBE with a Defense Resourcing System of three processes: Strategy, Resource Allocation, and Execution. A Defense Resourcing Guidance issued in February replaces the DPG, and a single Resource Allocation Submission replaces the POM and BES. Other recommendations would let five percent of operating funds carry into a second year, raise reprogramming thresholds, allow some new starts under continuing resolutions, and restructure the budget around capability areas. CRS reports a target of the FY2028 President's budget for the new structure.

What to check

• Which edition of DoDD 7045.14 does a document cite? The listing shows January 25, 2013, with Change 1 of August 29, 2017.
• Does "the POM" mean a Component's submission or the program after CAPE's review?
• Does a FYDP figure cover the budget year and at least four more, as 10 U.S.C. 221 requires, and which President's budget does it accompany?
• Does a source describe the annual cycle or the older biennial cycle with off-year Change Proposals?
• Does a reform claim map to one of the commission's 28 numbered recommendations, and has DoD or Congress acted on it?

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Sources

1. 1DoD Directive 7045.14, The Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Process, January 25, 2013, Incorporating Change 1, August 29, 2017 · Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services Directives Division
2. 2DoD Directives (Directives Division listing) · Washington Headquarters Services, Executive Services Directorate (listing as of October 12, 2026)
3. 3Defense Primer: Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Process (IF10429), updated December 6, 2024 · Congressional Research Service
4. 4United States Code, 2024 Edition, Title 10, Section 221 - Future-years defense program: submission to Congress; consistency in budgeting · U.S. Government Publishing Office
5. 5Defense Resourcing for the Future: Final Report · Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution Reform, March 6, 2024
6. 6Biennial DoD Budget Requirement - PPBE Process · Defense Acquisition University, ACQuipedia
7. 7DoD 7000.14-R, Financial Management Regulation, Volume 2A, Chapter 1 (October 2008) · Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
8. 8PPBE Reform Commission Final Report Recommendations: Issues for Congress (IN12372), May 31, 2024 · Congressional Research Service

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