Continental Air Defense

A Dedicated Force Is No Longer Needed Gao ID: NSIAD-94-76 May 3, 1994

The continental air defense evolved during the Cold War to detect and intercept Soviet bombers attacking North America via the North Pole. GAO concludes that such an air defense is no longer needed and could be disbanded at an annual savings of as much as $370 million. Other reserve and active units are well equipped to handle what has become the defense force's current focus--intercepting drug smugglers. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended that (1) the continental air defense be performed by dual tasking active and reserve general-purpose fighter and training squadrons in the Air Force, the Navy, and the Marine Corps and (2) the number of Air National Guard units assigned to this mission be sharply reduced or eliminated. The Secretary of Defense's guidance and the Air Force's plan, however, accomplish only part of what was envisioned by the Chairman, allowing the Air National Guard to retain an excessive force structure and incur the associated operating and support costs.

GAO found that: (1) the United States no longer needs a large, dedicated air defense force because the former Soviet Union no longer poses a significant threat; (2) other general-purpose combat and training forces' aircraft are capable of performing the air defense and sovereignty missions that the dedicated force has been performing; (3) the locations of reserve and active units would support air defense coverage requirements; (4) active and reserve pilots have skills comparable to those of pilots in the air defense force; and (5) the Chairman's recommendations could result in significant cost savings. GAO also found that: (1) in response to the Chairman's recommendations, the Air Force proposed to retain and slightly reduce the air defense mission within the Air National Guard as a dedicated force; (2) the Air Force would still incur significant personnel, operating, and support costs; and (3) although the Department of Defense (DOD) has not formally endorsed the Air Force's plan, the DOD fiscal year 1995 budget submission reflects adoption of the plan.

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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