Contract Maintenance

Improvements Needed in Air Force Management of Interim Contractor Support Gao ID: NSIAD-92-233 August 26, 1992

The Air Force, like the Army and the Navy, supplements its in-house maintenance capability through contractor support. Temporary support, known as interim contractor support, is used when the Air Force has decided to eventually maintain the materiel in-house--that is, in government facilities with government personnel. Thus, interim contractor support is temporary maintenance and logistics support that a contractor provides until the items can be supported at operating bases and maintenance depots by government personnel. In response to congressional concerns about rising interim contractor support costs and related management and funding problems, GAO evaluated the Air Force's interim contractor support program and costs to (1) identify factors contributing to the costs, (2) examine Air Force interim contractor support planning and management for certain weapon systems, and (3) assess Air Force and Department of Defense initiatives to improve interim contractor support management and to limit costs.

GAO found that: (1) annual program costs have continued to steadily increase, to an estimated $328 million in 1992; (2) the B-1B aircraft program received almost one-half of total Air Force program funding between 1985 and 1992; (3) Air Force officials predict a gradual decline in annual program requirements, to less than $200 million by fiscal year 1997; (4) the decline, however, depends on sufficient in-house B-1B aircraft support, no new systems being started, and no additional requirements for current programs; (5) conditions identified in 1983 that contributed to increased program costs and prolonged program reliance are still apparent today; (6) the problems included lack of planning, low priority for support needs, concurrent development and production efforts or compressed fielding schedules, and budget reductions in support resources; and (7) the program can be an effective tool to minimize facility investment until system design is stable and firm support requirements are established, but a failure to obtain a timely transition from program capability can increase long-term support costs and impair readiness.

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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