Opportunity for Improving Military Courier Operations

The Armed Forces Courier Service (ARFCOS) was surveyed in Japan, the Philippines, and Hawaii to identify opportunities for improving operations and reducing costs. ARFCOS operates three courier stations in Japan, two in the Philippines, and one in Hawaii.

Savings could be effected on runs from the Yokota Air Base ARFCOS station to Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station and the U.S. Naval Ordnance Facility at Sasebo, Japan, by using customer designated couriers selected from among traveling military passengers. According to officials at the Atsugi ARFCOS station, a transit point for material between Yokota Air Base and Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, this station remains open only to service Yokosuka. The other bases served by Atsugi could be serviced from Yokota. GAO believed that arrangements could be made with Yokosuka customers that would permit them to also be serviced from Yokota or at a predetermined transit point on a minimum number of days each week. The station at Misawa Air Base operates 3 days per week to dispatch material to and from Yokota. In the Philippines, the ARFCOS station at Clark Air Base serves as a centralized transfer point for material destined to and from the Far East and interfaces with the Diplomatic Courier Service representative at the American Embassy, Manila, to pick up material for dispatch to northern Asian countries and the United States. The Cubi Point station is an end of the line station and not normally used for the transfer of courier material to other locations. The station in Hawaii is located at Hickam Air Force Base and is operated by the Navy. The station makes one accompanied trip each month to New Zealand and Australia, which appeared to be unnecessary because the Department of State Diplomatic Courier Service delivers material to these two locations weekly from Manila.

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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