DOD's Industrial Preparedness Program Needs National Policy To Effectively Meet Emergency Needs

Gao ID: PLRD-81-22 May 27, 1981

The Industrial Preparedness Planning Program of the Department of Defense (DOD) was developed to ensure that sufficient industrial capacity exists to meet potential wartime needs for defense systems, equipment, and component parts.

Many organizations, including GAO, have found the program to be ineffective. DOD has reevaluated the program, but no significant improvement has resulted to date. DOD guidance has emphasized programs designed to enhance initial combat capability. Because the program does not significantly contribute to initial combat capability, a low priority has been given to the program. Failure to plan adequately with industry may mean that the ability of the United States to engage in prolonged combat would be jeopardized because no other program exists to bridge the gap between initial combat capability and a lengthy involvement. Two essential elements of the DOD program, item selection and requirements determination, are handled differently by each service and are often not handled well. Industry's participation in the DOD planning program has been voluntary and unfunded for many years. Planning information received from industry sources is incomplete and unreliable. Many industry sources do not identify production enhancement measures as part of their planning because they are not reimbursed for the costs of developing this information. In some cases, planners have discouraged contractors from identifying enhancement measures because of personnel constraints and lack of funds. Lack of management attention to the program may be resulting in lost opportunities to reduce war reserve stockage requirements.

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.

Director: John Landicho Team: General Accounting Office: Procurement, Logistics, and Readiness Division Phone: (202) 275-6504


The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.