This is the Department of Defense's second biennial budget submission. Authorization and appropriation of defense resources for 2 fiscal years will permit the Department to achieve economical procurements, program stability, and efficiencies in operations. The Department's first biennial budget, submitted for FY 1988/FY 1989, was reduced by more than $50 billion in accordance with the bipartisan budget agreement between the Administration and the Congress. In order to achieve this reduced funding level, the Department made substantial force structure reductions, and terminated a number of weapons programs, rather than stretch programs into the outyears. In making these reductions, the Department had to ensure that no single element of the Defense posture would assume an unacceptable degree of risk. A smaller force was accepted only to ensure that it was a ready and more effective force. This strategy was the base upon which the current biennial budget was built, and the priorities remain the same: Quality people, readiness, and efficient acquisition. Keywords: Tables data, Statistical data. (KR).