Military Operations and Capabilities Issue Area Plan--Fiscal Years
1995-97 (Letter Report, 03/01/95, GAO/IAP-95-3).
GAO provided information on its Military Operations and Capabilities
issue area plan, focusing on: (1) the Department of Defense's (DOD)
military planning activities; (2) DOD budgeting for its operation and
maintenance account; (3) the capability, performance, readiness, and
viability of military forces and weapon systems; and (4) the
effectiveness of DOD efforts to maintain a quality force.
GAO plans to concentrate its reviews on whether: (1) DOD strategic,
operational, and contingency planning is adequate to support military
operations; (2) DOD adequately plans and prepares an accurate operation
and maintenance budget; (3) DOD can adjust its mobilization and
deployment plans to its downsized force; (4) DOD forces are capable of
performing as expected; (5) DOD is efficiently and effectively preparing
forces for military operations; (6) readiness problems are a reflection
of poor resource allocation or insufficient funding; (7) DOD provides
the necessary incentives and operating environment to recruit and retain
a quality force; and (8) the DOD drawdown is achieving a balanced
active, reserve, and civilian workforce.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: IAP-95-3
TITLE: Military Operations and Capabilities Issue Area
Plan--Fiscal Years 1995-97
DATE: 03/01/95
SUBJECT: Combat readiness
Military operations
Defense contingency planning
Defense capabilities
Budget administration
Mission budgeting
Military recruiting
Defense budgets
Military training
Mobilization
******************************************************************
** This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a **
** GAO report. Delineations within the text indicating chapter **
** titles, headings, and bullets are preserved. Major **
** divisions and subdivisions of the text, such as Chapters, **
** Sections, and Appendixes, are identified by double and **
** single lines. The numbers on the right end of these lines **
** indicate the position of each of the subsections in the **
** document outline. These numbers do NOT correspond with the **
** page numbers of the printed product. **
** **
** No attempt has been made to display graphic images, although **
** figure captions are reproduced. Tables are included, but **
** may not resemble those in the printed version. **
** **
** Please see the PDF (Portable Document Format) file, when **
** available, for a complete electronic file of the printed **
** document's contents. **
** **
** A printed copy of this report may be obtained from the GAO **
** Document Distribution Center. For further details, please **
** send an e-mail message to: **
** **
** **
** **
** with the message 'info' in the body. **
******************************************************************
Cover
================================================================ COVER
National Security and International Affairs Division
March 1995
MILITARY OPERATIONS AND
CAPABILITIES ISSUE AREA PLAN -
FISCAL YEARS 1995-97
GAO/IAP-95-3
Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV
DOD - Department of Defense
ABC - ABCenti
FOREWORD
============================================================ Chapter 0
The Military Operations and Capabilities issue area is one of 35
issue areas for which GAO periodically develops multiyear strategic
plans. Relying heavily on input from congressional committees, as
well as with industry, academia, and agency officials and other
experts, GAO develops issue area plans to ensure that our resources
are focused on the most important concerns of the Congress. The
Military Operations and Capabilities issue area reviews programs in
the Department of Defense (DOD), the individual military services,
and other supporting defense agencies.
GAO's goal is to serve as a source of timely, accurate information
and unbiased analysis for decisionmakers in the Congress and
executive agencies. For each issue area, GAO's strategic plan
describes the significance of the issues, our objectives, and the
focus of our work. Our work results in such products as reports,
briefings, and testimonies.
GAO's work in the Military Operations and Capabilities issue area
focuses on military planning activities; DOD's budgeting for its
operation and maintenance account; the capability, performance,
readiness, and sustainability of military forces and weapons; and
initiatives aimed at maintaining a quality force. The principal
issues we cover are
-- the adequacy of DOD's strategic, operational, and contingency
plans for military operations and the completeness of its
mobilization and deployment plans;
-- the accuracy of budget estimates for DOD's operation and
maintenance account;
-- the capability of military forces and weapon systems to carry
out their expected roles in the national military strategy and
their performance in actual operations;
-- the readiness and sustainability of military forces to perform
their assigned missions; and
-- the effectiveness of DOD's efforts to maintain a quality force
concurrent with a substantial downsizing program.
In the pages that follow, we describe our key planned work on these
issues.
Because events may significantly affect even the best of plans, our
planning process allows for updating the plan and responding quickly
to emerging issues. If you have any questions or suggestions about
this plan, please call me at (202) 512-5140.
Mark E. Gebicke
Director
Military Operations and Capabilities Issues
CONTENTS
============================================================ Chapter 1
FOREWORD
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:1
1
TABLE I: KEY ISSUES
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:2
4
TABLE II: PLANNED MAJOR WORK
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:3
6
TABLE III: GAO CONTACTS
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:4
7
TABLE I: KEY ISSUES
============================================================ Chapter 2
Issue Significance
---------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
Planning and budgeting: Has With a smaller military, sound operational and
DOD adequately planned for contingency planning takes on increased
military operations and importance. Mobilization and deployment plans are
prepared an accurate crucial if DOD is to respond quickly.
operation and maintenance
(O&M) budget? The Congress is concerned that DOD has
overbudgeted for some items when these funds might
be better spent to achieve readiness. Our O&M
budget review can interject more accountability
into the process.
Capabilities and Each functional element of DOD's forces plays a
performance: Are DOD forces role in the national military strategy. Successful
capable of performing as military operations are predicated on whether each
expected? is capable of achieving its mission. By assessing
whether the selected forces exist in sufficient
numbers, are sufficiently modernized and ready,
and can be sustained in combat, we hope to assist
future decisions on force structure, training, and
capital investments.
Readiness and The Congress wants to avoid a return to a "hollow"
sustainability: Is DOD force, unprepared to fight the nation's wars.
prepared to effectively Readiness problems, however, may in fact reflect
carry out military poor resource allocation decisions rather than
operations? insufficient funding. Better management of defense
resources may be the key to improved readiness.
Quality of the force: Is DOD A smaller military must emphasize quality,
ensuring that a quality continuity, and high morale. Sound recruiting
force is maintained? efforts, meaningful training, career development
opportunities, and maintenance of a balanced force
are essential if DOD is to retain a quality
force.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objectives Focus of Work
---------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
--Assess adequacy of DOD's strategic, --Evaluations of DOD strategic,
operational, and contingency planning. operational, and contingency planning
efforts.
--Evaluate DOD efforts to adjust its
mobilization and deployment plans to its --Assessments of mobilization and
downsized force. deployment planning.
--Identify excesses and shortfalls in --Critical review of DOD's annual O&M
DOD's O&M budget requests. budget requests to identify potential
savings.
--Assess whether forces in selected --Reviews of selected military
military functions are capable of functions in terms of the adequacy of
achieving their expected missions. their force structure, modernization,
readiness, and sustainment to meet
--Alert Congress and DOD to shortfalls their anticipated mission.
and excesses in operational
capabilities. --Reviews of the performance of
selected forces in recent operations.
--Evaluate adequacy of DOD actions to Those most critical to successful
correct identified operational operations will be assessed.
deficiencies.
--Reviews of the adequacy of actions
taken to correct identified capability
shortfalls.
--Provide objective information about --Measurement of selected readiness
the potential return to a "hollow" indicators to address concerns about
force. declining readiness.
--Determine if DOD training is --Reviews of training and exercises
efficiently and effectively preparing aimed at preparing forces for combat.
forces for military operations.
--Assessments of Guard and Reserve
--Assess whether maintenance, supply, readiness.
facility, and other support systems
effectively and efficiently ensure the --Reviews of sustainment functions to
readiness of weapons and equipment. identify excesses that divert funds
from more productive uses and
shortages that hamper readiness.
--Assess DOD efforts to provide the --Evaluations of DOD efforts to retain
necessary incentives and operating a quality force, such as actions to
environment to recruit and retain a reduce attrition and improve quality
quality force. of life.
--Determine if DOD's drawdown is --Assessments of the force balance
achieving a balanced active, reserve, achieved through downsizing.
and civilian workforce.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE II: PLANNED MAJOR WORK
============================================================ Chapter 3
Issue Planned Major Job Starts
------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------
Planning and budgeting --Evaluation of DOD's FY 1996 Operation and
Maintenance budget request\a
--Review of DOD force mobilization plans
--Review of DOD training infrastructure to identify
possible consolidations impacting the
O&M budget
Capabilities and --Assessment of selected functional capabilities
performance (e.g., medical, combat engineering)
--DOD's experience with and plans for joint force
packaging
--Chemical and biological warfare capability\a
Readiness and --Continuing evaluation of readiness for a cross-
sustainability section of DOD forces\a
--Impacts of high operating tempo on readiness\a
--Readiness and sustainability of selected combat and
support aircraft\a
--Impact of frequent reassignments on readiness
--Accessibility of Guard and Reserve forces in recent
operations\a
Quality of the force --DOD efforts to minimize undesirable attrition
--Review of alternatives for housing military
personnel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a Ongoing assignments
TABLE III: GAO CONTACTS
============================================================ Chapter 4
DIRECTOR
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.1
Mark Gebicke (202) 512-5140
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.2
Sharon Cekala (202) 512-5140
ASSISTANT DIRECTORS
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.3
Edward M. Balderson
William E. Beusse
Charles J. Bonanno
Robert B. Eurich
Paul L. Francis
Valeria Gale Gist
Joan B. Hawkins
A. H. Huntington III
Robert J. Lane
James R. Murphy
Donald L. Patton
Carol R. Schuster
*** End of document. ***