In this photo taken March 2, 2011, Defense Secretary Robert Gates with Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, left, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the House Appropriations Committee. "Health care is eating the department alive," Gates said bluntly two years ago. The explosive expense of health care rivals what the Pentagon shells out to buy fighter aircraft, submarines and high-tech weapons, and is about half of the $118 billion that the Obama administration wants in the next budget to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)