Military Operations and Capabilities Issue Area Plan--Fiscal Year 1995-97
(Letter Report, 04/01/96, GAO/IAP-96-5).

GAO provided information on its Military Operations and Capabilities
issue area plan, focusing on: (1) military planning activities; (2) the
Department of Defense's (DOD) budgeting for operation and maintenance
(O&M); (3) the capability, performance, readiness, and sustainability of
military forces and weapons; and (4) initiatives to maintain a quality
force.

GAO plans to assess: (1) DOD and the military services' planning and
budgeting for military operations, particularly O&M requests and
potential budget reductions; (2) military capabilities, performance,
readiness, and sustainability, particularly identifying where shortfalls
exist; (3) recruitment, training, and retention of quality military
personnel; and (4) DOD adjustment of its mobilization and deployment
plans to its downsized force.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  IAP-96-5
     TITLE:  Military Operations and Capabilities Issue Area 
             Plan--Fiscal Year 1995-97
      DATE:  04/01/96
   SUBJECT:  Military operations
             Military budgets
             Defense contingency planning
             Military cost control
             Military downsizing
             Defense capabilities
             Combat readiness
             Military recruiting
             Military training
             Budget cuts
IDENTIFIER:  Air Force Civil Reserve Air Fleet Program
             C-141 Aircraft
             Starlifter Aircraft
             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


National Security and International Affairs Division

April 1996

MILITARY OPERATIONS AND
CAPABILITIES ISSUE AREA PLAN -
FISCAL YEARS 1995-97

GAO/IAP-96-5



Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV

  DOD -
  O&M -

FOREWORD
============================================================ Chapter 0

As the investigative arm of Congress and the nation's auditor, the
General Accounting Office is charged with following the federal
dollar wherever it goes.  Reflecting stringent standards of
objectivity and independence, GAO's audits, evaluations, and
investigations promote a more efficient and cost-effective
government; expose waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in federal
programs; help Congress target budget reductions; assess financial
information management; and alert Congress to developing trends that
may have significant fiscal or budgetary consequences.  In fulfilling
its responsibilities, GAO performs original research and uses
hundreds of databases or creates its own when information is
unavailable elsewhere. 

To ensure that GAO's resources are directed toward the most important
issues facing Congress, each of GAO's 32 issue areas develops a
strategic plan that describes the significance of the issues it
addresses, its objectives, and the focus of its work.  Each issue
area relies heavily on input from congressional committees, agency
officials, and subject-matter experts in developing its strategic
plan. 

The Military Operations and Capabilities issue area covers programs
of the Department of Defense (DOD), the individual military services,
and other supporting defense agencies.  GAO's work in this issue area
includes assessments of military planning activities; DOD's budgeting
for operation and maintenance (O&M); the capability, performance,
readiness, and sustainability of military forces and weapons; and
initiatives aimed at maintaining a quality force.  The principal
issues covered 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 recruit and retain a
     quality force. 

In the pages that follow, we describe our key planned work on these
critical defense issues. 

Because events may significantly affect even the best of plans, our
process allows for updating the plan and provides the flexibility to
respond 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: Have DOD and     Congress is concerned that DOD has
its military services adequately         overbudgeted for some items that might
planned for conducting military          be better spent on other priorities.
operations, and have they prepared       Our identification of potential
accurate O&M budgets?                    reductions can interject greater
                                         accountability into the budgeting
                                         process and permit reallocation of
                                         funds where needed.

                                         With a smaller military force, sound
                                         operational and contingency planning
                                         takes on increased importance.
                                         Mobilization and deployment plans are
                                         crucial if DOD is to respond quickly.


Capabilities and performance: Has DOD    Successful military operations are
fielded the forces and weapon systems    predicated on the presumption that
that are capable of effectively          critical functional force elements and
discharging their assigned missions,     weapons can achieve their mission. Our
and are they performing as expected?     assessments will identify critical
                                         shortfalls that could jeopardize
                                         operations as well as excess
                                         capabilities that might be eliminated
                                         and thereby assist future decisions on
                                         force structure, training, and capital
                                         investments. Examining performance in
                                         exercises and actual operations
                                         provides the best indicators of
                                         capability.


Readiness and sustainability: Are U.S.   Congress wants to avoid a return to a
military forces ready to effectively     "hollow" force, unprepared to fight the
carry out their assigned missions, and   nation's wars. Readiness problems,
are supporting systems capable of        however, may in fact reflect poor
sustaining them?                         resource allocation decisions rather
                                         than insufficient funding. Better
                                         management of defense resources may be
                                         the key to improved readiness.





Quality of the force: Do DOD and the     A smaller military must emphasize
military services have effective         quality, continuity, and high morale.
programs in place to recruit and retain  Sound recruiting efforts, meaningful
a quality force?                         training, career development
                                         opportunities, and effective quality-
                                         of-life programs are essential if DOD
                                         is to retain a quality force.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objectives                               Focus of work
---------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------
 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.
 Target selected budget items for
evaluation and potential reduction.       Reviews of selected DOD programs
                                         (especially infrastructure) to identify
 Evaluate DOD's efforts to adjust its   potential reductions.
mobilization and deployment plans to
its downsized force.                      Reviews of DOD plans for mobilizing
                                         and deploying forces and equipment
                                         (Civil Reserve Air Fleet, C-141
                                         modernization, infrastructure for the
                                         continental United States, and Army/
                                         Marine Corps equipment afloat).

 Alert Congress and DOD to shortfalls    Reviews of selected military
and excesses in selected operational     functions to determine whether their
capabilities.                            force structure, modernization,
                                         readiness, and means of sustainment are
 Evaluate the adequacy of DOD actions   properly matched to their expected
taken to properly size forces according  role.
to their anticipated missions.
                                          Reviews of the adequacy of actions
 Identify performance shortfalls that   taken to correct shortfalls and
could undermine success in future        eliminate excesses in capability.
operations.
                                          Assessments of the performance of
                                         selected functional capabilities in
                                         recent operations.

 Identify ways to maintain readiness     Assessments of minimum equipment
at lower cost.                           needed by reserve forces to conduct
                                         meaningful training.
 Determine if DOD training efficiently
and effectively prepares forces for       Reviews to determine effectiveness of
operations.                              training and exercises in preparing
                                         forces for combat.
 Assess whether maintenance, supply,
and other support systems effectively     Reviews of sustainment functions to
and efficiently ensure readiness.        identify excesses that divert funds
                                         from more productive uses and shortages
                                         that hamper readiness.

 Assess DOD efforts to provide the       Evaluations of DOD's efforts to
necessary incentives to recruit and      retain a quality force, such as
retain a quality force.                  improving military housing, decreasing
                                         enlisted personnel attrition, and
 Determine if DOD's drawdown is         improving quality-of-life programs.
achieving a balanced active, reserve,
and civilian workforce.                   Assessments of the force balance
                                         achieved through downsizing
                                         (privatization efforts and military/
                                         civilian and active/reserve force mix).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TABLE II:  PLANNED MAJOR WORK
============================================================ Chapter 3

Issue                         Planned major job
----------------------------  --------------------------------------------------
Planning and budgeting         Evaluation of DOD's fiscal year 1997 O&M budget
                              request*

                               Review of DOD's airlift scheduled service
                              operations to identify potential reductions

                               Review of the Army's plans and priorities for
                              upgrading U.S. infrastructure for mobilizing and
                              deploying forces

                               Assessment of the feasibility of consolidating
                              DOD's facilities engineering activities

Capabilities and               Reviews of selected functional capabilities
performance                   (e.g., provision of combat medical care, Navy ship
                              defense, combat engineering)

                               DOD's experience with and plans for joint force
                              packaging

                               Assessment of the potential for reducing DOD's
                              en route base access and transit refueling
                              facilities

                               Review of the cost-effectiveness of DOD's
                              modernization and retirement plans for its C-141
                              airlifter

Readiness and                  Equipment readiness of first-to-fight
sustainability                contingency forces

                               Assessment of the services' training to prevent
                              friendly fire incidents

                               Review of ongoing Army efforts to adjust its
                              forces, doctrine, and tactics to anticipated
                              challenges of the 21st century (Force XXI)

Quality of the force           Possible alternatives to the military retirement
                              system*

                               DOD efforts to minimize undesirable attrition*

                               Review of alternatives for housing military
                              personnel*
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Ongoing assignments


TABLE III:  GAO CONTACTS
============================================================ Chapter 4


      DIRECTOR
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.1

Mark E.  Gebicke (202) 512-5140


      ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.2

Sharon A.  Cekala (202) 512-5140


      ASSISTANT DIRECTORS
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.3

Edward M.  Balderson
William E.  Beusse
Charles J.  Bonanno
Reginald L.  Furr
Valeria G.  Gist
Barry W.  Holman
Robert J.  Lane
William C.  Meredith
James R.  Murphy
Donald L.  Patton
Elliott C.  Smith


*** End of document. ***