Operation Desert Shield/Storm

Impact of Defense Cooperation Account Funding on Future Maintenance Budgets Gao ID: NSIAD-93-179 June 10, 1993

In earlier reports (GAO/NSIAD-92-194 and GAO/NSIAD-91-304), GAO stated that the Pentagon's estimates of maintenance funding requirements for equipment used in Operation Desert Storm may have been overstated. Although early inspections found that equipment initially returning from Operation Desert Storm was in good condition and would need little additional maintenance beyond that normally planned and budgeted for, equipment returned later was discovered to be in much worse shape. This report discusses the nature and the extent of damage sustained by the military's equipment used in the Persian Gulf and includes color pictures of equipment exposed for lengthy periods to harsh desert conditions. GAO also discusses the cost of maintaining and repairing equipment used in the operation and the degree to which such costs are being covered by contributions from U.S. Allies to the Defense Cooperation Account.

GAO found that: (1) the condition of and maintenance requirements for equipment returning from the operations varied considerably; (2) most of the equipment used in the operations was left unattended and unprotected from adverse desert conditions; (3) nearly all large vehicles and aircraft sent to the Gulf region had some preexisting maintenance needs that became worse during the operations; (4) it was very difficult to clearly identify incremental operation-related maintenance and repair requirements before the operations from maintenance required under peacetime operating conditions; (5) the services' financial accounting systems do not differentiate between organizational- or intermediate-level maintenance obligations; (6) the combination of normal maintenance funding and DCA funding could reduce future maintenance requirements; and (7) reduced future maintenance requirements should not necessarily reduce future funding levels.

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: Team: Phone:


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.