Another Look at the Readiness of Strategic Army Forces (Unclassified Digest)

The Army maintains strategic units in the United States which are to be constantly available on short notice for deployment in an emergency, either to reinforce and support forces stationed overseas or to be deployed elsewhere to support national commitments.

It is doubtful that the strategic Army forces could deploy quickly and in a fully combat ready condition. Much of the forces' combat essential equipment was not kept up, although it was reported to be. As a result, a considerable amount of maintenance would be required in a deployment to make it combat ready. Funding problems continue to constrain maintenance and training programs. Shortages in the stock of repair parts still exist and personnel and training problems persist. Revisions in the criteria for reporting personnel and training readiness are needed. Planning for contingency deployments needs to be improved and strengthened. During 1970-71, the diversion of resources, funds, equipment, and personnel to South Vietnam contributed to the low readiness of the strategic divisions existent then.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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