The Sustainable Defense Task Force issued a report calling for defense budgetary savings of almost $1 trillion between 2011 and 2020.  The recommendations cover all aspects of the base defense budget, including procurement and research and development as well as overhead accounts.  The task force excluded spending for overseas defense operations.  The criteria used to identify reductions considered options “that could be achieved without compromising the essential security of the United States.”  The main areas of concentration for the task force were: 1) DoD programs based on unproven or unreliable technologies; 2) missions with a poor cost-benefit payoff; 3) assets or capabilities that are not matched to current or emerging military challenges; and 4) management reforms.  The task force looked at strategic capabilities and the conventional force structure and reviewed ground forces, air forces, and sea forces.  Some of the program options recommended by the task force include: 1) reduce the US nuclear arsenal; 2) reduce US troop strength in Europe and Asia by 50,000; 3) reduce the Navy fleet to 230 ships; 4) retire 2 aircraft carriers and naval air wings; 5) retire 2 Air Force fighter wings and cut the F-35 buy; and 6) reform military compensation and DoD’s health care system.  The report also called for accelerating the DoD audit, developing realistic program cost estimates, and strengthening acquisition reform.  The task force was set up after Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked for a study on how defense budget cuts could help reduce the budget deficit without adversely affecting national security.  Carl Conetta of the Project on Defense Alternatives drafted the report with contributions and comment from representatives from a number of think tanks.  The task force congressional sponsors forwarded the report to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform and recommended that it consider options for defense reductions as they deliberate on how the federal budget should be adjusted to reduce the deficit.