United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office National Security and International Affairs Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1997-09-29 monographic deposited born digital 47 p. GA 1.13:NSIAD-97-206 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-206 P0b002ee1803766db f:ns97206 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-206 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-206 NSIAD-97-206 National Guard Army facilities Equipment maintenance Military materiel Military training Armed forces reserve training Military cost control Maintenance costs Centralization Cost effectiveness analysis Bradley Fighting Vehicle Abrams Tank Crusader Self-Propelled Howitzer M88 Recovery Vehicle M113 Armored Personnel Carrier M1A1 Tank North Carolina Georgia Louisiana Tennessee Texas Mississippi Letter Report NSIAD

GAO determined the: (1) feasibility of Army National Guard units that annually train at the same site to pool and share equipment; (2) maintenance costs that the Guard would avoid by pooling and sharing equipment; and (3) ways the Guard can maximize equipment sharing at annual training sites.<p/>GAO found that: (1) according to GAO's analysis of nine equipment items with high annual scheduled maintenance costs and eight Guard units, it is feasible for units that annually train at the same site to pool and share equipment; (2) for the eight units GAO reviewed, more than enough equipment is already located at Mobilization and Training Equipment Sites to create a pool of equipment for unit training needs; (3) the equipment not needed for the pool could be preserved in a controlled humidity environment; (4) more equipment than the Guard's 25-percent goal can be preserved; (5) other than during the 2-week annual training period, the unit equipment located at some training sites is used little; (6) because units train at different times during the summer, this equipment could be made available to other units for use during their 2-week training period or put in preserved storage; (7) GAO's analysis showed that the Guard could avoid up to $10.3 million annually in maintenance costs if it preserved 25 percent of these items in a controlled humidity environment; (8) the Guard could avoid up to $20 million annually in maintenance costs if three units at one training site and two units at another training site pooled and shared their equipment and preserved their unused equipment; (9) the cost avoidance GAO identified is the minimum that the Guard can achieve because many equipment items other than the ones used in the GAO analysis could be pooled and shared; (10) additional maintenance costs could be avoided if other state and territorial Guard military commands pooled and shared training equipment; (11) changing the annual training site of as few as three units will maximize equipment sharing, cause more equipment to be available for preservation, and allow the Guard to more efficiently use scarce maintenance resources; (12) under this scenario, Guard units could place as much as 49 percent of their equipment in preserved storage and reduce maintenance costs by $38.1 million in the first year and $39.2 million each year thereafter, which is $18 million more than the $21.2 million cost avoidance using the Guard's 25-percent goal; and (13) although the Guard would incur additional facility costs to preserve more than 25 percent of its equipment, the benefits of avoiding annual maintenance costs for this equipment would more than offset the facility costs. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-206/html/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-206.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-206/pdf/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-206.pdf GAO/NSIAD-97-206 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-206 Letter Report GAO/NSIAD-97-206; Army National Guard: Sharing Unit Training Equipment Would Help Avoid Maintenance Costs; National Guard Army facilities Equipment maintenance Military materiel Military training Armed forces reserve training Military cost control Maintenance costs Centralization Cost effectiveness analysis Bradley Fighting Vehicle Abrams Tank Crusader Self-Propelled Howitzer M88 Recovery Vehicle M113 Armored Personnel Carrier M1A1 Tank North Carolina Georgia Louisiana Tennessee Texas Mississippi Title 31 Section 720 31 U.S.C. 720