RDT&E vs. O&M vs. Procurement Appropriations
The three workhorse DoD appropriations divide by what the money buys: O&M funds the expenses of running the force, procurement funds investment in end items, and RDT&E funds development and test. DoD FMR Volume 2A draws the lines; 31 U.S.C. 1301(a) enforces them.
The sorting rule is expense versus investment. Expenses keep the department running and belong in O&M (or Military Personnel); investments buy assets and belong in procurement (or Military Construction). RDT&E is the exception that holds both. For items not centrally managed, DoD FMR Volume 2A, Chapter 1 puts the dividing line at a system unit cost of $250,000: at or above it, investment; below it, expense.
Availability follows the category. O&M and Military Personnel money is good for new obligations for one year, RDT&E for two, procurement for three, military construction for five. RDT&E covers design, development, and the operational and live-fire testing that precedes a procurement decision.
Classification is a legal question, not a bookkeeping one: buying with the wrong appropriation violates 31 U.S.C. 1301(a). Software is the standing gray area, and DoD's FY2026 reform proposals would let a single appropriation carry the full software lifecycle.
Regulatory Reference
DoD FMR 7000.14-R, Volume 2A, Chapter 1; 31 U.S.C. 1301(a)
RFO Status
No impact: appropriation classification lives in the DoD FMR and title 31, outside the FAR, so neither the model deviations nor the June 2026 proposed rules reach it.
Category
Regulations & Policy
How AcqBot Helps
AcqBot reads the appropriation cited in a requirements package against the FMR's expense and investment criteria — unit cost, central management, development content — and flags a purchase drawing on the wrong pot before the obligation posts, when it is still a correction rather than a purpose violation.
Related glossary entries
Class Deviation
A class deviation authorizes an agency to depart from specific FAR or supplement provisions for a category of contract actions rather than a single case — the mechanism agencies are using to implement the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul ahead of formal rulemaking.
Commercial Products and Services (FAR Part 12)
Commercial products and commercial services are items of a type sold, leased, licensed, or offered in the commercial marketplace, defined at FAR 2.101. FAR Part 12 implements the statutory preference for buying them whenever market research shows they can meet the agency's need.
Rule of Two
The rule of two directs a contracting officer to set aside an acquisition for small business when there is a reasonable expectation of receiving offers from at least two responsible small business concerns and making award at fair market prices, per FAR 19.502-2.
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) is information the government creates or possesses, or that an entity handles on its behalf, that a law, regulation, or governmentwide policy requires safeguarding or dissemination controls for — sensitive but not classified, governed by 32 CFR Part 2002.