Defense Logistics
Department of Defense's Annual Report on the Status of Prepositioned Materiel and Equipment Can Be Further Enhanced to Better Inform Congress Gao ID: GAO-10-172R November 4, 2009The Department of Defense (DOD) prepositions equipment at strategic locations around the world to enable it to field combat-ready forces in days, rather than the weeks it would take if equipment had to be moved from the United States to the locations of conflicts. These prepositioned materiel and equipment sets have played an important role in supporting ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, sustained operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a toll on the condition and readiness of military equipment. Over the last few years, we have identified a number of ongoing and long-term challenges regarding DOD's prepositioned stocks. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 added an annual reporting requirement to Title 10 of the United States Code that directs DOD to submit a report to the congressional defense committees on the status of prepositioned materiel and equipment as of the end of each fiscal year, no later than the date of the submission of the President's annual budget request. For this report, our objective was to determine what additional information in future DOD reports on the status of its prepositioned materiel and equipment could further inform congressional defense committees on these issues. We examined GAO and DOD reports on the services' prepositioned stock programs, reviewed relevant DOD and service policies, and met with DOD and service officials to determine whether additional information could further inform Congress on the status of prepositioned materiel and equipment.
Although DOD addressed the six required reporting elements in its annual report, DOD's future reports to Congress on the status of its prepositioned materiel and equipment would benefit from additional information in three areas. Specifically, future reports would be enhanced by additional information on the amount of spare parts the Army maintains in its prepositioned stocks; the materiel condition of the Air Force's material and equipment needed to establish bases; and information on the services' progress to replenish their individual prepositioned sets, such as level of fill and readiness rates, and changes in those sets from the previous year. First, while DOD's report addressed the level of fill for spare parts as required by the mandate, we found that the Army had additional data on spare parts that were not included in DOD's report. First, while DOD's report addressed the level of fill for spare parts as required by the mandate, we found that the Army had additional data on spare parts that were not included in DOD's report. Third, DOD's future reports to Congress on the status of its prepositioned materiel and equipment would benefit from information on the services' progress to replenish their individual prepositioned sets, such as level of fill and readiness rates, and changes in those sets from the previous year.
RecommendationsOur 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:GAO-10-172R, Defense Logistics: Department of Defense's Annual Report on the Status of Prepositioned Materiel and Equipment Can Be Further Enhanced to Better Inform Congress
This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-10-172R
entitled 'Defense Logistics: Department of Defense's Annual Report on
the Status of Prepositioned Materiel and Equipment Can Be Further
Enhanced to Better Inform Congress' which was released on November 5,
2009.
This text file was formatted by the U.S. Government Accountability
Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part
of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every
attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of
the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text
descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the
end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided
but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed
version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic
replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. Please E-mail
your comments regarding the contents or accessibility features of this
document to Webmaster@gao.gov.
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed
in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work
may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this
material separately.
GAO-10-172R:
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
November 4, 2009:
Congressional Committees:
Defense Logistics: Department of Defense's Annual Report on the Status
of Prepositioned Materiel and Equipment Can Be Further Enhanced to
Better Inform Congress:
The Department of Defense (DOD) prepositions equipment at strategic
locations around the world to enable it to field combat-ready forces in
days, rather than the weeks it would take if equipment had to be moved
from the United States to the locations of conflicts. DOD's
prepositioned stock programs[Footnote 1] support the National Military
Strategy and are an important part of its overall strategic mobility
framework. Through their individual programs, each of the military
services maintains preconfigured groups of related materiel and
equipment, known as "sets," in geographic locations around the world.
These prepositioned materiel and equipment sets have played an
important role in supporting ongoing operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan. However, sustained operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have
taken a toll on the condition and readiness of military equipment. Over
the last few years, we have identified a number of ongoing and long-
term challenges regarding DOD's prepositioned stocks.[Footnote 2] In
2008 we testified that some of the Army's prepositioned stocks have
been depleted and that it was unclear when those critical reserve
stocks would be replenished or how much the total cost to do so would
be.[Footnote 3] Although the services have estimated the cost and time
frame to replenish their stocks in DOD's report to Congress, the
services are currently reviewing their prepositioning programs to
address new requirements to meet future needs. DOD has reported to
Congress that the services are committed to resetting[Footnote 4]
prepositioned materiel but must balance these resetting efforts with
the department's other priorities, such as restructuring capabilities
within its prepositioned stocks and changes in its overseas military
presence.[Footnote 5]
In June 2008, DOD issued an instruction to provide guidance on war
reserve materiel requirements determination and positioning to support
the immediate needs of U.S. military forces across a spectrum of
contingencies.[Footnote 6] The instruction further required the
establishment of a Global Prepositioned Materiel Capabilities Working
Group. The working group provides the services a place to share
information about their programs and discuss lessons learned. According
to DOD officials, the working group serves as a mechanism to inform
other groups developing long-term strategies for global posture about
issues related to prepositioned materiel. In addition, members of the
working group are participating in teams that are reviewing the role of
prepositioned programs in the department's Quadrennial Defense Review.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008[Footnote 7]
added an annual reporting requirement to Title 10 of the United States
Code[Footnote 8] that directs DOD to submit a report to the
congressional defense committees on the status of prepositioned
materiel and equipment as of the end of each fiscal year, no later than
the date of the submission of the President's annual budget request.
DOD's report is required to address the following six elements: (1) the
level of fill for major end items[Footnote 9] of equipment and spare
parts, (2) the materiel condition of equipment in the prepositioned
stocks, (3) a list of major end items drawn from prepositioned stocks
that fiscal year and a description of how the equipment was used and
whether it was returned to the stocks after its use, (4) a time line
for completely reconstituting any shortfall in the prepositioned
stocks, (5) an estimate of the funding required to completely
reconstitute any shortfall in the prepositioned stocks and a
description of the Secretary's plan for carrying out the
reconstitution, and (6) a list of any operation plans affected by a
shortfall in the prepositioned stocks and a description of the action
taken to mitigate any risk created by that shortfall. In May 2009, DOD
submitted its report to Congress on the status of its prepositioned
materiel and equipment for the time period of October 2007 to September
2008. DOD's report includes an unclassified section to address
reporting elements one through five and a classified annex to address
reporting element six. The annual reporting requirement also directs
GAO to review DOD's annual reports and submit to the congressional
defense committees any additional information that will further inform
the committees on issues relating to the status of the materiel in
prepositioned stocks no later than 120 days after the date on which DOD
submits its report to Congress.
For this report, our objective was to determine what additional
information in future DOD reports on the status of its prepositioned
materiel and equipment could further inform congressional defense
committees on these issues. We examined GAO and DOD reports on the
services' prepositioned stock programs, reviewed relevant DOD and
service policies, and met with DOD and service officials to determine
whether additional information could further inform Congress on the
status of prepositioned materiel and equipment. While we did not
independently assess the data DOD provided to Congress, we discussed
the reliability of the systems used to develop the report data with
service officials and determined that the data are sufficiently
reliable to meet the objective of this engagement. A more detailed
discussion of our scope and methodology is included in enclosure I. We
conducted this performance audit from May 2009 to November 2009 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that
the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Summary:
Although DOD addressed the six required reporting elements in its
annual report, DOD's future reports to Congress on the status of its
prepositioned materiel and equipment would benefit from additional
information in three areas.[Footnote 10] Specifically, future reports
would be enhanced by additional information on the amount of spare
parts the Army maintains in its prepositioned stocks; the materiel
condition of the Air Force's material and equipment needed to establish
bases; and information on the services' progress to replenish their
individual prepositioned sets, such as level of fill and readiness
rates, and changes in those sets from the previous year.
First, while DOD's report addressed the level of fill for spare parts
as required by the mandate, we found that the Army had additional data
on spare parts that were not included in DOD's report. Army logistics
officials have acknowledged that three of the Army's prepositioned
packages include spare parts and could be reported to Congress, but
these packages are not currently included in DOD's annual report. Army
officials told us that, in DOD's report to Congress, readiness of spare
parts is included as part of its equipment end item materiel condition.
According to an Army regulation on logistics, readiness, and
sustainability, if Army materiel managers use readiness data from
inaccurate reports, their decisions on repair, modification, overhaul,
or purchase of end items and repair parts will be faulty, causing among
other things, inefficient and wasteful use of scarce Army
resources.[Footnote 11] Without the addition of information about the
Army's prepositioned spare parts, Congress may not have all of the
information it needs to make informed decisions regarding the Army's
prepositioning program.
Second, with regard to the second reporting element addressing the
materiel condition of equipment in the prepositioned stocks, the Air
Force could provide more information on its materiel and equipment
needed to establish bases. Including this information in future reports
to Congress would provide for a more comprehensive account of the
material condition of the Air Force's prepositioned equipment. The Air
Force indicated in the annual report to Congress that critical
equipment shortfalls of items were affecting the materiel condition of
its Basic Expeditionary Airfield Resources (BEAR) sets,[Footnote 12]
but did not provide information on the overall materiel condition of
its BEAR sets. The Air Force provided us with additional information on
the materiel condition of its BEAR sets as of July 2009, indicating
that some of the sets were mission capable, most were partially mission
capable, and some were not mission capable. Without the addition of
information about the materiel condition of the Air Force's BEAR sets,
Congress may not have all of the information it needs to make informed
decisions regarding the Air Force's prepositioning program.
Third, DOD's future reports to Congress on the status of its
prepositioned materiel and equipment would benefit from information on
the services' progress to replenish their individual prepositioned
sets, such as level of fill and readiness rates, and changes in those
sets from the previous year. We have previously reported that
transparent and comprehensive information about programs allows
decision makers to understand the full magnitude of resource
requirements and weigh competing priorities.[Footnote 13] While the
report includes the required information from the services on the
amount of equipment on hand and materiel condition, it does not
indicate the services' progress to replenish their prepositioned sets.
For example, the Army reported that of the required 5042 medium
tactical vehicles currently in its prepositioned stocks, nearly all of
the vehicles are available for use. Since the vehicles are assigned to
multiple prepositioned sets, the information in the report does not
indicate the Army's progress to replenish individual sets. Additional
information on the services' prepositioned sets and information about
changes in those sets from the previous year could provide the
congressional defense committees with a better means to measure the
services' progress over time to replenish their prepositioned stocks.
This information would also benefit DOD and congressional decision
makers when weighing competing funding priorities.
To provide Congress with the visibility to better assess the condition
of DOD's prepositioned materiel and equipment, we are recommending that
the Army and Air Force each include more detailed information in DOD's
report to Congress, and that the services provide information on their
progress to replenish their individual prepositioned sets and changes
in those sets from the previous year in future reports to Congress. In
commenting on a draft of this report, the department concurred with
each of our three recommendations. DOD also provided separately a
number of technical comments which we considered and incorporated as
appropriate. DOD's written comments are reprinted in enclosure II.
Background:
Each military service maintains different configurations and types of
materiel and equipment to support its prepositioned stock program.
Table 1 provides details on the configuration of each of the services'
prepositioned stocks.
Table 1: Description of DOD's Prepositioned Stocks by Military Service:
Service: Army Prepositioned Stocks (APS); 1-5;
Types of stocks: Brigade Combat Team (BCT);
Description:
* Stored at land sites and aboard prepositioning ships;
* Sets are designed to support 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers;
* Abrams Tanks, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, High Mobility Multi-
purpose Wheeled Vehicles, support trucks, and vehicles;
* Spare parts and other sustainment stocks to support the early stages
of a conflict.
Service: Army Prepositioned Stocks (APS); 1-5;
Types of stocks: Sustainment stocks;
Description:
* Stored at land sites and aboard prepositioning ships;
* Replacement equipment for losses in early stages of operations or
until resupply is established;
* Includes major end-items such as tracked vehicles;
* Secondary items such as meals, clothing, petroleum supplies,
construction materials, ammunition, medical materiels, and repair
parts.
Service: Army Prepositioned Stocks (APS); 1-5;
Types of stocks: Operational project stocks;
Description:
* Stored at land sites and aboard prepositioning ships;
* Authorized material above unit authorizations designed to support
Army operations or contingencies;
* Equipment and supplies for special operations forces, bare base sets,
petroleum and water distribution, mortuary operations, and prisoner-of-
war operations.
Service: Marine Corps; Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron (MPSRON)1-
3;
Types of stocks: Forward deployed; Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF);
Description:
* Consists of 16 prepositioning ships organized into three squadrons;
* Each squadron supports about 16,000 Marines and sailors for up to 30
days;
* Includes combat systems, communications systems, construction
equipment, munitions, medical supplies, and sustainment stocks.
Service: Marine Corps; Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron (MPSRON)1-
3;
Types of stocks: Prepositioning program--Norway;
Description:
* Six cave sites and two storage facilities/air stations located in
central Norway;
* Designed to support a Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) with select
types and classes of vehicles, equipment, and supplies;
* Includes vehicles, engineering equipment, munitions, rations, and
other equipment that will be used to support any geographic combatant
command.
Service: Navy; Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron; (MPSRON) 1-3;
Types of stocks: Navy prepositioned assets;
Description:
* Assets are stored aboard maritime prepositioning force ships and at
land sites;
* Equipment to offload prepositioning ships, including material
handling equipment, ramps and barges, landing and amphibious craft, and
bulk fuel;
* Construction equipment such as cranes, forklifts, trucks, and tractor
trailers;
* Includes approximately 2,400 fleet hospital beds.
Service: Air Force; various geographic locations;
Types of stocks: Bare base sets;
Description:
* Base operating support equipment and supplies used to house forces at
austere bare base forward operating locations;
* Supports up to 77,500 personnel and 850 combat/mobility aircraft at
up to15 forward operating locations worldwide;
* Includes housekeeping sets for personnel life support, industrial
operations sets to establish expeditionary airbase infrastructure, and
flight line (flying) operations sets.
Service: Air Force; various geographic locations;
Types of stocks: Operational stocks;
Description:
* Direct and indirect mission support equipment and vehicles for up to
43 forward operating locations to support major combat operations and
vignettes as specified in DOD's Integrated Security Posture and
Strategic Planning Guidance;
* Includes equipment stored at forward operating locations (land bases)
worldwide to provide direct mission support such as Aerospace Ground
Equipment (AGE) for flying operations, Fuels Operational Readiness
Capability Equipment (FORCE) for aircraft refueling, and general
aviation support;
* Includes both general purpose vehicles such as trucks, buses, vans,
and special purpose vehicles such as material handling equipment, fire
trucks, and civil engineering construction equipment.
Service: Air Force; various geographic locations;
Types of stocks: Other aviation support equipment and supplies;
Description:
* Includes other war reserve materiel sustainment equipment and
supplies such as rations, munitions stored at land sites and aboard
prepositioning ships, petroleum (aircraft fuel), oils, lubricants at
multiple locations, and centralized storage locations globally.
Source: DOD and GAO.
[End of table]
The Army and Marine Corps maintain sets of materiel and equipment by
support unit or brigade type using land and ship storage facilities.
For example, the Army maintains materiel and equipment, such as tanks
and armored wheeled vehicles, to support combat operations. Support
materiel and equipment include secondary items such as clothing,
construction, repair parts, and medical supplies. The Marine Corps
stores combat systems, communications systems, construction equipment,
munitions, medical supplies, and sustainment stocks on its ships. The
Marine Corps supports its Marine Expeditionary Brigades[Footnote 14]
with vehicles, engineering equipment, munitions, rations, and other
equipment that will be used to support any geographic combatant
command. The Navy and Air Force configure their prepositioned materiel
and equipment by capability on land and ship storage facilities. For
example, the Navy maintains expeditionary medical facilities, which
provide medical and surgical care. The Air Force maintains basing and
combat support materiel and equipment through BEAR package sets that
provide basing assets at sites with limited infrastructure and support
facilities and Fuels Operational Readiness Capability Equipment to
provide fueling capabilities in areas without supporting
infrastructure.
In our December 2008 report, which addressed DOD's August 2008 annual
report, we found that additional information on the funding
requirements for the services' prepositioned programs and on risk to
current operations and concept plans could further inform congressional
defense committees.[Footnote 15] As a result we recommended that DOD
provide additional information to Congress on funding requirements for
the services' programs, and in addition to the required elements,
include in DOD's report to Congress information about risks to current
operations and concept plans due to shortfalls and the mitigation
strategies to address those risks. DOD agreed with our first
recommendation and DOD officials stated that they will present funding
requirements by year and appropriation accounts, similar to DOD's
annual budget request presentation, in the fiscal year 2009 report to
Congress. This information should provide Congress with a more
comprehensive detailed estimate of the services' requirements for
prepositioned materiel and equipment. DOD disagreed with our second
recommendation; however, the Joint Staff developed a new methodology to
identify risks to operation plans and current operations. The
methodology compares the services' materiel and equipment shortfalls
with the Combatant Commanders' Integrated Priority List. The Integrated
Priority List includes shortfalls in essential materiel and equipment
requirements affecting operational capabilities to accomplish their
assigned mission. The list of corresponding shortfalls was provided to
the services to obtain a list of actions taken by the services to
mitigate any risk that may be created by the shortfalls. By including
equipment shortfalls identified by Combatant Commanders and service
mitigation strategies, the information provided in the classified annex
of DOD's report provides more transparency. This transparency provides
DOD and the services greater visibility to better assess the risks and
subsequent mitigation plans to better inform congressional decision
making on the potential ramifications associated with specific
shortages of prepositioned stocks.
In addition to replenishing their prepositioned stocks, the services
are reviewing their programs to address future requirements. According
to Army logistics officials, the Army is examining the effect of
changes in prepositioned materiel and equipment requirements and
support to Afghanistan on the Army's ability to meet its Army
Prepositioned Stocks Strategy 2015. Army officials provided senior
leadership with recommendations to address the effect of these changes
on its prepositioned stock program in August 2009. In addition, the
Marine Corps is in the process of transforming its Maritime
Prepositioning Force by incorporating more flexible capabilities to
enable a variety of missions, while the Navy is converting its
expeditionary medical facility capability to modular medical units of
varying sizes by 2013. Similarly, the Air Force is in the process of
shifting from its historical emphasis on air deployable assets to new
deployment configurations that reduce its reliance on airlift by
prepositioning materiel on land and on ships.
DOD's Report Addressed the Six Required Reporting Elements, but Future
Reports Would Benefit from Additional Information:
Although DOD addressed the six required reporting elements in its
annual report,[Footnote 16] DOD's future reports to Congress on the
status of its prepositioned materiel and equipment would benefit from
additional information in three areas. Specifically, future reports
would be enhanced by additional information on 1) the amount of spare
parts the Army maintains in its prepositioned stocks, 2) the materiel
condition of the Air Force's material and equipment needed to establish
bases, and 3) information on the services' progress to replenish their
individual prepositioned sets, such as level of fill and readiness
rates, and information about changes in those sets from the previous
year.
The services provided information on each of the reporting elements in
DOD's report to Congress. In responding to the first reporting element,
each service provided some information on the level of fill--or the
amount of equipment or materiel on hand in their prepositioned stocks
compared to requirements--of major end items.[Footnote 17] In reporting
on the second reporting element, the materiel condition of equipment in
prepositioned stocks, all of the services provided some information on
the materiel condition of equipment on hand. For the third element, the
services reported information on equipment drawn from and returned to
prepositioned stocks that supported ongoing operations or training
exercises during the reporting period of October 1, 2007, to September
30, 2008. For the fourth reporting element, the services provided their
time lines to completely reconstitute shortfalls in their stocks,
indicating that they expect to completely replenish their stocks
between 2013 and 2015. For the fifth element, the report includes the
services' cost estimates to replenish their prepositioned stocks
ranging from $4.5 million for the Navy to $5.3 billion for the Army,
and described the Secretary's plan for carrying out the reconstitution.
A classified annex addressed the sixth reporting element, which
included a list of operation plans affected by any shortfall in the
prepositioned stocks and subsequent mitigation strategies.
In addition to the information provided in the report to Congress for
the first reporting element on the level of fill of major end items of
equipment and spare parts, the Army could provide more information on
its spare parts. We found that the Army has more detailed data on spare
parts that were not included in DOD's report. Army logistics officials
have acknowledged three types of prepositioned packages that include
spare parts--Authorized Stockage List, Prescribed Load List, and Unit
Basic Loads that could be reported to Congress, but these packages are
not currently included in DOD's annual report.[Footnote 18] Instead,
the readiness of Army spare parts is included as part of its equipment
end item readiness in DOD's report to Congress. Army officials told us
that the packages of spare parts are drawn when equipment that the
packages support is drawn from the prepositioned stocks or modernized.
In DOD's report to Congress, of the major end items reported on by the
Army, at least 50 percent of the prepositioning equipment has been
drawn. Army officials told us that the packages with spare parts are
not replenished or their status reported until the brigade the spare
parts support is reset. As we have previously reported, greater use of
oversight mechanisms, such as the monthly readiness report, should be
utilized to improve the Army's ability to make reliable assessments and
report on the status of its program.[Footnote 19] According to an Army
regulation on logistics, readiness, and sustainability, if Army
materiel managers use readiness data from inaccurate reports, their
decisions on repair, modification, overhaul, or purchase of end items
and repair parts will be faulty causing, among other things,
inefficient and wasteful use of scarce Army resources.[Footnote 20]
Until the Army provides additional information about the status of its
prepositioned spare parts in DOD's report, Congress may not have full
visibility of the amount of spare parts in the Army's stocks to support
decision making.
Second, in addressing the reporting element on the materiel condition
of equipment in the prepositioned stocks, the Air Force could provide
more information on the prepositioned materiel and equipment it stores
to facilitate the establishment of expeditionary bases. Including this
information in future reports to Congress would provide for a more
comprehensive account of the material condition of the Air Force's
prepositioned equipment. The Air Force indicated that critical
shortfalls of items were affecting the materiel condition of its Basic
Expeditionary Airfield Resources (BEAR) sets, but did not provide
information on the overall materiel condition of its BEAR sets. In
addition, the Air Force included the sets on the unfunded requirements
list that it provided to the House Armed Services Committee indicating
that the Air Force does not have funds, estimated to be about $11
million in its fiscal year 2010 budget, to replace older versions of
the BEAR sets deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom for
which supplemental funding was not provided. The Air Force provided us
with additional information on the materiel condition of its BEAR sets
as of July 2009. Of the 171 prepositioned BEAR sets, some of those sets
were mission capable, indicating that they had 100 percent of critical
items and 75 percent of noncritical items on hand. Most of the BEAR
sets were partially mission capable, having at least 50 percent of
critical items and 50 percent of noncritical items on hand, while some
were not mission capable, with less than 50 percent of their critical
items on hand. Without this additional information in future reports,
Congress may not have all the information it needs to make informed
decisions regarding the Air Force's prepositioning programs.
Third, DOD's future reports to Congress on the status of its
prepositioned materiel and equipment would also benefit from
information on the services' progress to replenish their individual
prepositioned sets,[Footnote 21] such as level of fill and readiness
rates, and information about changes in those sets from the previous
year. We have previously reported that transparent and comprehensive
information about programs allows decision makers to understand the
full magnitude of resource requirements and weigh competing priorities.
[Footnote 22] In the report to Congress, the Army stated that of the
required 5042 medium tactical vehicles currently in its prepositioned
stocks, most of the vehicles are available for use. Since the vehicles
are assigned to multiple prepositioned stock sets, the information in
the report does not indicate the Army's progress to replenish
individual sets. Alternatively, the Marine Corps provided information
on its progress to replenish its prepositioned sets by providing
information on the amount of equipment loaded on its ships. For
example, its Maritime Prepositioned Squadron 1 loaded 91 percent of its
equipment required during its last maintenance cycle. This information
informs Congress on the availability of the Maritime Prepositioned
Squadron 1 to provide equipment in response to a contingency. Section
2229a of Title 10 of the U.S. Code does not include a reporting
requirement to provide a comprehensive picture of the services'
prepositioned sets and changes in the condition of those sets from the
previous year. Information on the services' progress to replenish their
individual prepositioned sets, such as level of fill and readiness
rates, and information about changes in those sets from the previous
year could provide both Congress and DOD leadership greater visibility
over the services' progress over time to meet their replenishment
goals, compared to the information the current annual report provides.
Moreover, such information would provide congressional defense
committees with a more thorough understanding of the full magnitude of
resource requirements when weighing competing funding priorities.
Conclusions:
Going forward, DOD's annual report, as well the active interest and
involvement of the congressional defense committees will continue to be
key tools to ensure DOD effectively achieves and sustains its goals for
replenishing prepositioned stocks. Prepositioned materiel and equipment
have been vital to ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan over the
past several years. Assessing potential risks to operations and plans
based on shortfalls in prepositioned stocks provides DOD better
information to assess how prepositioned stocks could support current
and future operations. Providing additional information on Army spare
parts and on the materiel condition of the Air Force's BEAR sets would
provide Congress greater visibility of the amounts and condition of the
services' prepositioned stocks on hand when making decisions about
future funding for the services' programs. Furthermore, without
comprehensive information on the services' programs, congressional
defense committees may not have adequate information to make funding
decisions about the services' prepositioned stock programs when
weighing competing priorities. In addition, the services' ongoing
reviews of their prepositioning programs, the effects of operations
overseas, and potential changes to meet new threats in the future may
impact the funding required to completely replenish their stocks.
Additional information on the services' prepositioned sets and
information about changes in the condition of those sets from year to
year would provide Congress a more transparent and comprehensive
picture of how the services are utilizing their funding to reconstitute
their prepositioned stocks in a changing security environment.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
To provide Congress with the visibility to better assess the condition
of DOD's prepositioned materiel and equipment, we are recommending that
the Secretary of Defense direct:
* the Secretary of the Army to include in DOD's future reports to
Congress more detailed information on the level of fill of its
prepositioned sets that include spare parts, and:
* the Secretary of the Air Force to include in DOD's future reports to
Congress information on the materiel condition of its BEAR sets.
To provide Congress with a more comprehensive picture of the services'
prepositioned sets, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct
the Joint Staff and the secretaries of the military services to include
in DOD's future reports to Congress, information on the services'
progress to replenish their individual prepositioned sets, such as
level of fill and readiness rates, and changes in those sets from the
previous year.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
In commenting on a draft of this report, DOD concurred with all three
recommendations. In response to our first recommendation that the
Secretary of Defense direct the Secretary of the Army to include in
DOD's future reports to Congress the level of fill of its prepositioned
sets that include spare parts, DOD commented that it will incorporate
into future reports to Congress information on the Army's level of fill
of its prepositioned sets that include spare parts. In response to our
second recommendation that the Secretary of Defense direct the
Secretary of the Air Force to include in DOD's future reports to
Congress information on the materiel condition of its Basic
Expeditionary Airfield Resources sets, DOD also commented that it will
include information on the materiel condition of the Air Force's BEAR
sets in its future reports. Similarly, DOD concurred with our third
recommendation and commented that the Joint Staff and the military
services will include information regarding the progress to replenish
their individual prepositioned sets and changes in those sets from the
previous year to highlight readiness concerns as well as major program
improvements.
DOD also provided a number of general and technical comments, which we
have considered and incorporated as appropriate. A copy of DOD's
written comments is included in enclosure II.
We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional
committees; the Secretary of Defense; the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff; the Secretaries of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force; and
the Commandant of the Marine Corps.
In addition, this report will be available at no charge on GAO's Web
site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. If you or your staff members
have any questions regarding this report, please contact me at (202)
512-8365 or solisw@gao.gov. Contact points for our Office of
Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last
page of this report. GAO staff members that made major contributions to
this report are listed in enclosure III.
Signed by:
William M. Solis, Director:
Defense Capabilities and Management:
List of Committees:
The Honorable Carl Levin:
Chairman:
The Honorable John McCain:
Ranking Member:
Committee on Armed Services:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye:
Chairman:
The Honorable Thad Cochran:
Ranking Member:
Committee on Appropriations:
Subcommittee on Defense:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Ike Skelton:
Chairman:
The Honorable Howard P. McKeon:
Ranking Member:
Committee on Armed Services:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable John P. Murtha:
Chairman:
The Honorable C.W. Bill Young:
Ranking Member:
Committee on Appropriations:
Subcommittee on Defense:
House of Representatives:
[End of section]
Enclosure I: Scope and Methodology:
To evaluate the Department of Defense's (DOD) report on the status of
its prepositioned stocks, we obtained and analyzed data from the Joint
Staff, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force that described the
status of materiel and equipment in the prepositioned stocks. We
reviewed DOD and service guidance and strategies that guide the
prepositioned stock programs to understand the variations of
information reported by the services on the status of prepositioned
materiel and equipment. After analyzing the data, we met with
appropriate Joint Staff and service officials to discuss the
methodology used to collect and report materiel status, and the
reliability of data from systems the services used to report the status
of their prepositioned stocks. We also examined GAO and DOD reports on
the services' prepositioned stock programs, reviewed relevant DOD and
service guidance, and met with DOD and service officials to determine
whether additional information could further inform Congress on the
status of prepositioned materiel and equipment. We reviewed the current
and prior DOD reports to Congress to determine if the information
provides a transparent and comprehensive picture of the services'
progress over time to reconstitute their prepositioned stock. While we
did not independently assess the data DOD provided to Congress, we
discussed the reliability of the systems used to develop the report
data with service officials and determined that the data are
sufficiently reliable to meet the objectives of this engagement. During
this audit engagement, we met with officials from the Office of the
Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Supply Chain
Integration; Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Logistics; Army
Deputy Chief of Staff, Program Analysis & Evaluation Directorate; Army
Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations and Plans; Army Deputy Chief of
Staff, Logistics; U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency; Army Materiel
Command; Army Aviation and Missile Command; Army Sustainment Command;
Headquarters Marine Corps Installations & Logistics; Chief of Naval
Operations, Logistics Operations Branch; Naval Facilities Naval
Expeditionary Program Office; and Headquarters Air Force Plans and
Integration; Defense Logistics Agency. We conducted this performance
audit from May 2009 through November 2009 in accordance with generally
accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we
plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence
to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on
our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a
reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit
objectives.
[End of section]
Enclosure II: Comments from the Department of Defense:
Deputy Under Secretary Of Defense For Logistics And Materiel Readiness:
3500 Defense Pentagon:
Washington, DC 20301-3010:
October 13, 2009:
Mr. William M Solis:
Director, Defense Capabilities and Management:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street, NW:
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Mr. Solis:
This is the Department of Defense (DoD) response to the GAO draft
report, GAO-09-917R, "Defense Logistics: Department of Defense's Annual
Report on the Status of Prepositioned Materiel and Equipment Can Be
Further Enhanced to Better Inform Congress," dated September 8, 2009
(GAO Code 351352). Detailed comments on the report recommendations are
enclosed.
The Department concurs with the draft report's recommendations to
provide, in future reports to Congress, additional details regarding
the U.S. Army's level of fill in its prepositioned sets, the U.S. Air
Force's BEAR sets' materiel condition, and information on progress to
replenish prepositioned sets.
The Department appreciates the opportunity to comment on the draft
report. Technical comments are provided separately. For further
questions concerning this report, please contact. Colonel Arnold
Holcomb, 703-380-6411, email arnold.holcomb@osd.mil.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Alan F. Estevez:
Enclosure: As stated:
[End of letter]
GAO Draft Report ” Dated September 8, 2009:
GAO Code 351352/GAO-09-917R:
"Defense Logistics: Department of Defense's Annual Report on the Status
of Prepositioned Materiel and Equipment Can Be Further Enhanced to
Better Inform Congress"
Department Of Defense Comments To The Recommendations:
Recommendation I: The GAO recommends that the Secretary of Defense
direct the Secretary of the Army to include in DoD's future reports to
Congress the level of fill of its propositioned sets that include spare
parts.
DoD Response: Concur. The U.S. Army's level of fill of its
prepositioned sets that include spare parts will be incorporated into
future reports to Congress.
Recommendation 2: The GAO recommends that the Secretary of Defense
direct the Secretary of the Air Force to include in DoD's future
reports to Congress information on the materiel condition of its Basic
Expeditionary Airfield Resources (BEAR) sets.
DoD Response: Concur. Information regarding the materiel condition of
U.S. Air Force BEAR sets will be included in DoD's future reports to
Congress.
Recommendation 3: The GAO recommends that the Secretary of Defense
direct the Joint Staff and the secretaries of the Military Services to
include in DoD's future reports to Congress information on the
Services' progress to replenish their individual prepositioned sets,
such as level of fill and readiness rates, and changes in those sets
from the previous year.
DoD Response: Concur. In future reports to Congress, the Joint Staff
and the Military Services will include information regarding progress
to replenish their individual prepositioned sets and changes in those
sets from the previous year. This will allow the Services to highlight
readiness concerns as well as major program improvements.
[End of section]
Enclosure III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgements:
GAO Contact:
William M. Solis, (202) 512-8365 or solisw@gao.gov:
Acknowledgements:
In addition to the contact named above, David A. Schmitt, Assistant
Director; Renee Brown, Susan Ditto, Nicole Harms, Elizabeth D. Morris,
Katharine Neill, Charles Perdue, Terry Richardson, Donna Rogers, Adam
Smith, and Chris Watson made contributions to this report.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] While the Army, Marine Corps, and Navy use the term Prepositioned
Stock program, the Air Force uses the term War Reserve Materiel
program. For purposes of this report, we use the term prepositioned
stock program or prepositioned stocks for all services.
[2] GAO, Defense Logistics: Better Management and Oversight of
Prepositioning Programs Needed to Reduce Risk and Improve Future
Programs, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-427]
(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 6, 2005); GAO, Defense Logistics: Improved
Oversight and Increased Coordination Needed to Ensure Viability of the
Army's Prepositioning Strategy, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-144] (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 15,
2007); GAO, Defense Logistics: Army and Marine Corps Cannot Be Assured
That Equipment Reset Strategies Will Sustain Equipment Availability
While Meeting Ongoing Operational Requirements, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-814] (Washington D.C.: Sept. 19,
2007); GAO, Defense Logistics: Army Has Not Fully Planned or Budgeted
for the Reconstitution of Its Afloat Prepositioned Stocks, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-257R] (Washington D.C.: Feb. 8,
2008); GAO, Military Readiness: Impact of Current Operations and
Actions Needed to Rebuild Readiness of U.S. Ground Forces, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-497T] (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 14,
2008); GAO, Force Structure: Restructuring and Rebuilding the Army Will
Cost Billions of Dollars for Equipment but the Total Cost is Uncertain,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-669T] (Washington, D.C.:
Apr. 10, 2008); GAO, High Risk Series An Update, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-271] (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 2009).
[3] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-497T], [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-669T].
[4] Reset is defined as actions taken to restore units to a desired
level of combat capability commensurate with the units' future mission.
It includes the repair, replacement, or recapitalization of equipment
that was destroyed, damaged, stressed, or worn out beyond economic
repair due to combat operations.
[5] DOD, Report on Department of Defense Programs for Prepositioning of
Materiel and Equipment: Interim Submission: Way Ahead to Comprehensive
Review and Discussion of Current Service Prepositioning Strategies,
(Sept. 19, 2007).
[6] Department of Defense Instruction 3110.06, War Reserve Materiel
(WRM) Policy (June 23, 2008).
[7] Pub. L. No. 110-181, §352 (2008).
[8] 10 U.S.C. §2229a.
[9] According to the Department of Defense, Supply Chain Materiel
Management Regulation, DoD 4140.1-R, AP1.1.11.7 (May 23, 2003), a major
end item is a final combination of end products that is ready for its
intended use.
[10] 10 U.S.C. § 2229a.
[11] Army Regulation 700-138, Logistics Army Logistics Readiness and
Sustainability (Feb. 26, 2004).
[12] BEAR sets provide basing materiel and equipment and combat support
equipment at sites with limited infrastructure and support facilities.
[13] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-354R].
[14] A Marine Expeditionary Brigade includes between 14,000 and 17,000
Marines and can operate independently for up to 30 days.
[15] GAO, Defense Logistics: Department of Defense's Annual Report on
the Status of Prepositioned Materiel and Equipment Can Be Enhanced to
Better Inform Congress, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-147R] (Washington, D.C.: Dec.15,
2008).
[16] 10 U.S.C. §2229a.
[17] According to the Department of Defense, Supply Chain Materiel
Management Regulation, DoD 4140.1-R, AP1.1.11.7 (May 23, 2003), a major
end item is a final combination of end products that is ready for its
intended use.
[18] The three packages support equipment in the Army's prepositioned
brigade combat team. An Authorized Stockage List includes items that
are combat essential, authorized, and tailored to the support level,
geographic area, and equipment density level. The Prescribed Load List
includes unit maintenance repair parts that are not otherwise
authorized for stockage at the installation level but are required to
ensure operations of major pieces of equipment or facilities that are
vital to a defense mission. The Unit Basic Loads include supplies for
use in combat other than ammunition.
[19] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-427].
[20] Army Regulation 700-138, Logistics Army Logistics Readiness and
Sustainability (Feb. 26, 2004).
[21] Each of the military services maintains preconfigured groups of
related materiel and equipment, known as "sets," in geographic
locations around the world.
[22] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-354R].
[End of section]
GAO's Mission:
The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation and
investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting
its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance
and accountability of the federal government for the American people.
GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and
policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance
to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding
decisions. GAO's commitment to good government is reflected in its core
values of accountability, integrity, and reliability.
Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony:
The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no
cost is through GAO's Web site [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. Each
weekday, GAO posts newly released reports, testimony, and
correspondence on its Web site. To have GAO e-mail you a list of newly
posted products every afternoon, go to [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]
and select "E-mail Updates."
Order by Phone:
The price of each GAO publication reflects GAO‘s actual cost of
production and distribution and depends on the number of pages in the
publication and whether the publication is printed in color or black and
white. Pricing and ordering information is posted on GAO‘s Web site,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/ordering.htm].
Place orders by calling (202) 512-6000, toll free (866) 801-7077, or
TDD (202) 512-2537.
Orders may be paid for using American Express, Discover Card,
MasterCard, Visa, check, or money order. Call for additional
information.
To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs:
Contact:
Web site: [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm]:
E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov:
Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470:
Congressional Relations:
Ralph Dawn, Managing Director, dawnr@gao.gov:
(202) 512-4400:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street NW, Room 7125:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
Public Affairs:
Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov:
(202) 512-4800:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street NW, Room 7149:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
