Down the Rabbit Hole of the Pentagon Graphics Machine.

In my research for the Death and Taxes poster I come across all sorts of charts and graphs.  The are graphics produced by people in the pentagon, a half trillion dollar enterprise.  While some are simple and too the point, others have gone off the deep end of visualization methods.

Next week I will be interviewing someone from the “Engine Room”, which is a initiative started two years ago from the Department of Defenses’ comptrollers office that deals specifically with analyzing budgetary information and briefing creation.  Basically they make charts and graphs from large amounts of information that members of congress and the president can understand.

The Engine Room is a very welcome program for anyone who has seen what Major Generals can do with PowerPoint and some clip-art. But just to put into perspective some of the good work the Engine Room is doing, let us take a trip down the rabbit hole of the pentagon graphics machine.

First I would like to mention that the graphics coming out of each branch of the military are vastly different.  The Army’s are all quite uniform sticking to bar graphs and pie charts and all with a matching color scheme.  The Navy’s graphics are less polished with a focus on line charts and the occasional concept map.  The Air Force however that really goes over the top in their visualization methods, from baffling to well, more baffling, their graphics really show off what can be accomplished when you lose sight of your audience and forget that sometimes the best way to convey information with with a paragraph or two of text.

Let’s start off with the Army.  Here is what 75% of their charts have looked like for the past 5 years.

It’s simple and stright forward.  Their pie graphs are also well done.

Clear and functional with a break out box for those sub %5 items.  Occasional you will get a graph that really didn’t need to be visualized.  This bar graph - table hybrid below shows how unexciting two nearly identical sets of data can be.

The Navy uses a variety of visualization methods with some more effective than others.  Their standard method is the line chart as seen below.

Not very polished, but useful, although a legend could have been included with this one.  Sometimes they will mix in a bar chart as well.

One chart they use a lot is the 3D area chart.

Again not very polished, but effective.

Here is where it get’s a little tricky.  The Navy uses a table to chart the porduction of various planes and ships, except they use a strikeout to denote changes.  It can end up looking a bit like a bowling score card.

Here is a more complex one.

The Navy also dabbles in concept visualization too.  Here is one that looks simpler than it really is.

And here is one that looks as complicated as it really is.

At least there is some production value there, with gradients ansd such.  There was one graph in the Navy documentation that looked like it really did not belong there.  This one below, drawn with MS Paint, was inserted into some paragraph text.

Now on to the Air Force when things really start to get out of hand.  First to prepare you for the craziness of the Air Force documentation, let me show you what a typical document cover looks like.

This one is from a few years ago but it’s really got everything Air Force in there as if there was a requirement to depict all aspects of the branch in clipart form.

The Air Force graphics are not all over-the-top.  Here are a few that have little flare but are none the less, odd.

This one is easy to understand, but at first glance it looks a bit like a graph depicting the flight of boomerang.

Now the lines charts get a bit more complicated.

I am sure there could have been a better way to represent this data than weaving multiple lines together like a sloppily knit scarf.

It get’s worse.

This area chart seems to be crossed with some metaphor visualization methods as well as a magnetic poetry set - Air Force Jargon Edition.  I must note that these image0s are not cropped, if they lack legends, keys, or explinations it is because they were not included.

Occasionally you will see a bar graph in the mix.

Considering that most of this chart is about future projections which are flat, I am not too sure as this really needed to be visualized.

Where the Air Force really goes the extra mile is in the non-traditional methods of data visualization.

This one looks pretty snazzy at first, but I suspect that this image existed indepentantly and the document creator just added labels on top of it.  Does this really tell us anything?

Here is one of the most useful charts I have come across.

It’s simple and shows just what’s involved in the ‘budget’ aspect of the Air Force.  It doesn’t really show how they are in volved, but that may be asking too much.

Not to say there isn’t an attempt to convery complex themes and information…

…there is.  The above chart may not make a lot of sense to the layman, or even the any-man, but to the creator of the chart it means something.  Perhaps the chart is an accurate depiction of a very complex organizational strategy.  Or the chart depcits something of less complexity in an obfuscating way.  Or the chart depicts something that doesn’t need to be depicted.  I can’t say for certain, but its totally baffling to me.

It doesn’t have to be complex to be confusing.

This looks like it should be straight forward.  But is the diagonal line on some type of axis?  Just what is going on here?  Even with all the acronyms explained, I suspect this chart is still confusing.

Here is one that looks promising.

We have a quadrant overlapped with some area data.  What I don’t quite understand is if this is a concept driven chart, is there any data to support it.  Usually quadrant charts involve axises.  Here there are not axises making the shapes and sizes oi the various items rather arbitrary.

Here is another one that looks simple, but the arrows seem to raise more questions then provide answers.

It certainly doesn’t help that it’s titled, “Air Force Budget Quadrants” when there are no quadrants, unless I am missing something.

This one may look really busy, and it is, but there is plenty of information in there without being overly confusing.

The key could use some help deciphering the red, blue, and aqua colored radar coverage though.

There is a particular document that uses mostly PowerPoint created charts, and it can get a little out of control.

What is generally lacking in these charts is some uniformity.  Providing a clear path will help the reader absorb the information.  Generally these particulary graphs are chock full of bits of clip art and different colored boxes and arrows.  It really obstructs the informational aspect.

Occasionally, it literally obstructs the chart, like this one where a plan wing is covering the graph.  Don’t ask why, this is a half trillion dollar operation here.

This ‘chart’ looks like a fun time.

But is it telling us anything?

And just who is doing these graphics anyways?

Are these informational?

Or is it just fun and games?

I won’t rant about how our tax dollars pay for these images and how we deserve better.  But What I do find a bit alarming is that these documents are used to breif major decision makers.  These decision makers may know a thing or two about policy and politics, but if decoding and understanding the armed forces budget is the goal of these documents, then there is a huge failure here.

Not only are these graphs of limited use and poor quality, but they are terribly inconsistant across the branches.  Is the Air Force’s budget any more difficult to understand than the Army’s?  Only the largest of corporations deal with budgets this big; over a  hundred billions dollars annually.  You can only imagine the quality and caliber of the charts and graphics comming out of their reports which themselvs cost millions to produce.  Why does the Department of Defense, which is an economy the size of Turkey, put out such inconsistant and poor visualizations?

Well fortunately there is an effort to improve this front.  As I mentioned earlier, the Department of Defense Comptroller, Tina Jones has started an effort call the Engine Room which is quickly turning militarty budget reports into a standardized art form.  Next week we will be interviewing a member of their team to try to get some answers to these questions and learn about their process.  Stay tuned to the feed.

Down the Rabbit Hole of the Pentagon Graphics Machine. has one response Add your thoughts.

U.S. Troop Stength in Iraq, and other data.

So I was researching the U.S. troops strength in Iraq since there was all this talk of surging and pulling out.  Turns out there isn’t really any good visuals of it, and the raw data leaves alot to be desired.  So I went about creating my own chart.

I would first like to thank the Statistical Information Analysis Division(SIAD) of the Office of the Secretary of Defense for the raw data.  As is often the case when the Pentagon and the Internet mingle, the SIAD website looks like it was done by the lone DOD IT guy in between bites of a chicken sandwich

Regardless, here is the data when its cleaned up a bit. (click it to make it bigger)

I have added in major dates related to the Iraq war.  The Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force are depicted and labeled.  If you see any trends let me know; I am not analyzing this data, just throwing it out there.

For reasons unknown to me, the SIAD does not list troop levels later than December of 2007.  The unofficial end of July projection is 140,000 and the unofficial goal expressed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates for December is 100,000.  I will leave the plausibility of that up to you.  Whats also missing in the numbers for Operation Enduring Freedom which is for Afghanistan.  The data is available for this but not prior to 2005 for some reason so I didn’t include it.  There are 20-25,000 troops in Afghanistan at any given time, about 95% Army.

So now that we have a nice clean chart, its time to complicate it with extraneous data sets.  Below is the same chart only I overlaid the Dow Jones Index, Halliburtons stock aswell as the Homeland Security’s terror alert indication.  See any correlation?

Of course there is no set vertical scale for the economic data but there doesn’t need to be to spot trends.  I experiment with other indicators such as the price of oil but the chart became a little overwhelming.  I will try more overlays in the future and you’re more than welcome to use the images to your own devices.

Enjoy.

U.S. Troop Stength in Iraq, and other data. has 2 responses Add your thoughts.

Total military and national security spending in the U.S. federal budget.

Every year people ask me, “Just what is all this military/national security spending you list?”. Well I have decided to type it all out once and for all. What qualifies spending as ‘military’ or ‘national security’ is subjective. There is strict interpretations which only includes funding with in the Department of Defense, and there are loose interpretation which include portions of the national debt and subsequent interest payments as a direct result of military spending. I try to strike a balance between loose and strict. Below is a table which includes all the military and national security spending that makes up the $799 Billion listed on the Death and Taxes poster for 2009.

The government has an official categorization of defense spending. It’s function 050.

“National Defense” (”Function 050″): Federal budget category that consists of the Department of Defense budget (”Function 051″); Department of Energy programs devoted to national defense, such as naval ship reactors and nuclear weapons (”Function 053″); and other defense-related activities including the Selective Service System and civil defense programs administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (”Function 054″).

But protecting our national borders and interests is not solely contained within function 050 spending. The table below details all the military and national security spending that make up the $799 Billion that I use for the poster. Each function and department is color coded.

Total Military and National Security Spending in the 2009 Federal Budget

source: 2009 Presidential Budget Request

Category	Department	Program	Budget Authority ($Billion)	Description/Justification
Function 051	Defense	Department of Defense	515.440	Where the bulk of the military spending takes place
Function 053	Energy	National Nuclear Security Administration	9.097	Maintains nuclear weapon stockpile and maintains application of nuclear energy. i.e. Naval reactors.
Function 053	Energy	Environmental and Other Defense Activities	6.857	Disposal of old nuclear weapons and cleanup of military test sites.
Function 053	Energy	Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability	.008	???
Function 053	Labor	Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Fund	.948	Compensation to employees who were injured to radiation exposure at a nuclear testing site.
Function 053	Labor	Administrative Expenses, Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Fund	.108	Administration for the above. ^
Function 053	Corps of Engineers	Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program	.130	more nuclear testing site cleanup.
Function 053	Independent Agency	Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board	.025	Congressional oversight of the nuclear weapons complexes
Function 054	Commerce	Bureau of Industry and Security Operations and Administration	.015	Ensures an effective export control and treaty compliance.
Function 054	Homeland Security	United States Coast Guard	.340	Military functions of the Coast Guard
Function 054	Homeland Security	Acquisition, Construction, and Improvements	.003	???
Function 054	Homeland Security	National Protection and Programs Directorate	.841	For Infrastructure Protection and Information Security.
Function 054	Homeland Security	Federal Emergency Management Agency	.294	For Operations, Management and Administration
Function 054	Justice	Salaries and Expenses	.020	???
Function 054	Justice	Payment to Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund	.031	Compensation to people exposed to radiation during above ground nuclear tests from 1945 through 1962.
Function 054	Justice	Federal Bureau of Investigation	2.793	For Counter-terrorism and salaries and expenses related there to.
Function 054	Transportation	Maritime Security Program	.174	Privately owned fleet that can support a Department of Defense sustainment in a contingency.
Function 054	Corps of Engineers	Office of Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works)	.006	Arlington National Cemetery and the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s home National Cemetery administrative functions.
Function 054	Civil Defense	Selective Service System	.022	Administers military conscription.
Function 054	National Science Foundation	Research and Related Activities	.067	???
Function 054	Central Intelligence Agency	Payment to Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System Fund	.279	CIA retirement payments.
Function 054	Central Intelligence Agency	Intelligence Community Management Account	.665	Umbrella organization for oversight of the Intelligence community.
Function 054	Independent Agency	Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board	.002	Advises the President to ensure that concerns with respect to privacy and civil liberties are appropriately considered in the implementation of all laws, regulations, and executive branch policies related to efforts to protect the Nation against terrorism.
		Total Function 050	538.165
Function 153	State	International Peacekeeping Activities	1.497	Promotes increased involvement of regional organizations in conflict resolution and help leverage support for multinational efforts where no formal cost sharing mechanism is available.
Function 151	State	Counter-Narcotics Assistance	1.609	Provides funds for military equipment and training to overseas police and armed forces to combat the production and trafficking of illegal drugs
Function 152	State	Economic Support Fund	3.154	Promote economic and political stability in strategically important regions where the United States has special security interests, these grants allow the recipient government to free up its own money for military programs.
Function 152	State	Foreign Military Financing	4.812	Congressionally appropriated grants given to foreign governments to finance the purchase of American-made weapons, services and training.
Function 152	State	International Military Education and Training	.090	Military Education and Training grants to allied nations.
Function 152	State	Peacekeeping Operations	.247	Voluntary support for international peacekeeping activities.
Function 152	State	Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related Programs	.499	Funds go to nuclear non-proliferation programs, anti-terrorism aid, demining activities, and small arms destruction programs.
		Total function 150	11.909
Function 751	Homeland Security	Immigration and Customs Enforcement	5.364	The mission of ICE is to protect America and uphold public safety by targeting the people, money and materials that support terrorist and criminal activities. Established with the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the ICE is the largest investigative arm of DHS, and the second largest contributor to the nation €™s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Function 751	Homeland Security	Customs and Border Protection	9.494	While one role of Customs is to regulate international trade and collect import duties, its other primary mission is consists of preventing terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States.
Function 751	Homeland Security	Domestic Nuclear Detection Office	.596	Improves the Nation €™s capability to detect and report unauthorized attempts to import, possess, store, develop, or transport nuclear or radiological material for use against the Nation
		Total Function 751	15.454
Function 703	Veterans Affairs	Entire department not including benefits which is mandatory.	44.767	The government does not consider supporting our veterans military spending. However I make no distinction between the funding of current troops and the funding of past troops. Clearly the size of the active military has a direct relationship to the size of the veteran population and subsequent funding.
Function 051 (supplemental)	Defense	Global War on Terror	189.316	The administration uses $70 billion for this figure in 2009 which is just a placeholder pending further enactment of the 2008 request. The real estimated total is $180-200 billion. $189.316 billion was used at it is the 2008 estimated total.
		Total Other	234.083
		Total Military/National Security Spending	799.611

Total military and national security spending in the U.S. federal budget. has one response Add your thoughts.