Mine Warfare

GAO endorses the Navy's efforts to strengthen management of mine warfare forces by giving the Mine Warfare Command operational control of ships, helicopters, and associated explosive ordnance disposal detachments. If the Navy provides the needed resources to effectively manage these forces, holding the Mine Warfare Command accountable could improve oversight and direction of mine warfare activities. The Navy's efforts to consolidate its mine warfare forces at a new strategic homeport at Ingleside, Texas, should be suspended, however. Consolidation at Ingleside involves unknown costs and other problems that have not been adequately studied. Locating mine warfare forces at an existing base on both the East and West Coasts may be much less costly and more advantageous than correcting known deficiencies, like the inability to train with deploying carrier or amphibious battle groups. Also, other factors may counter the advantages the Navy hopes to gain by consolidating these forces at Ingleside.

GAO found that: (1) Navy officials stated that the lack of a full-time, deployable force commander and staff during Operations Desert Storm and Shield resulted in no one being responsible for preparing a coordinated mine countermeasures force for deployment; (2) Navy officials proposed that the Commander, Mine Warfare Command, be accountable for all mine warfare activities including mine weapon systems and mine countermeasures; (3) the Commander's responsibilities would also include platform and systems procurement, research and development, force operations, support activities, training, and integrated tactics development; and (4) Ingleside may not be the best location for mine warfare forces, since consolidation costs could be significant, benefits from training at Ingleside are not unique, and the site's remoteness could pose problems.

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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