GAO-21-279, MILITARY READINESS: Department Of Defense .
United States Government Accountability OfficeReport to Congressional CommitteesApril 2021MILITARYREADINESSDepartment ofDefense DomainReadiness Variedfrom Fiscal Year 2017through Fiscal Year2019GAO-21-279
April 2021MILITARY READINESSDepartment of Defense Domain Readiness Variedfrom Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2019Highlights of GAO-21-279, a report tocongressional committeesWhy GAO Did This StudyWhat GAO FoundNearly 2 decades of conflict hasdegraded military readiness at a timewhen the National Defense Strategycalls for preparedness for great-powercompetition. The strategy states thatDOD should be ready to operate in allwarfighting domains—ground, sea, air,space, and cyber.The Department of Defense (DOD) has developed a plan for readinessrecovery—referred to as the Readiness Recovery Framework—which includesgoals and metrics to assess progress in addressing primary readiness issues.Since 2018, DOD has revised its readiness recovery goals and metrics to alignwith the 2018 National Defense Strategy according to DOD officials.To assess readiness over time, theJohn S. McCain National DefenseAuthorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019included a provision that GAO reportannually through 2022—using 2017 asa baseline—on the readiness of themilitary in the ground, sea, air, space,and cyber domains. This reportdescribes (1) the extent to which DODhas established a plan with goals andmetrics for readiness recovery and (2)how readiness has changed from fiscalyear 2017 through fiscal year 2019 ineach domain.This report is a public version ofinformation reported in classifiedreports that GAO issued from August2018 through January 2020, withinformation GAO has updated asappropriate and the most current dataavailable for underlying reports onwhich this report is based. InformationDOD deemed classified has beenomitted. GAO reviewed readinessrecovery plans and, in consultationwith DOD, selected nongeneralizablesamples of forces for each domain.GAO grouped the forces into missionareas and analyzed readiness data.What GAO RecommendsGAO has previously made fiverecommendations to improve DOD’sreadiness recovery efforts that DODhas implemented. GAO has alsorecommended that DOD establishmetrics to measure readiness in eachdomain, which DOD has not done.View GAO-21-279. For more information,contact Diana Maurer at (202) 512-9627 orMaurerD@gao.gov.Readiness increased in the ground domain and declined in the sea domain fromfiscal year 2017 through fiscal year 2019, and rating changes were mixed in theair, space, and cyber domains. The ratings are based on GAO’s analysis of datafor selected mission areas—groups of similar capabilities from across theservices, such as fighter jets—and force elements—subsets of units within eachmission area—within each of the five domains.Change in Domain Resource and Mission Capability Readiness Ratings from Fiscal Years2017-2019Note: Resource readiness ratings measure the status of personnel, equipment, supplies, and training.Mission capability readiness ratings measure whether a unit can accomplish its designed missions.GAO found that reported domain readiness did not meet readiness recoverygoals identified by the military services. DOD has identified a wide range ofchallenges it faces as it seeks to improve readiness in each of the five domains.For example, within the sea domain, the Navy identified limited maintenancecapacity at private and public shipyards as the primary challenge for recoveringship and submarine readiness. GAO will continue to monitor and report onDOD’s domain readiness as required by Congress through 2022.In May 2019, GAO reported that DOD was not measuring or reporting readinessto perform full-spectrum operations by domain, as required by law, andrecommended DOD do so. However, since 2019 the Office of the Secretary ofDefense has expressed that the ground, sea, and air domains are captured in theReadiness Recovery Framework, and that instead of developing separatemetrics for measuring readiness by domains, it is focused on tracking readinessrecovery by military service. GAO continues to believe our recommendation isvalid.United States Government Accountability Office
ContentsLetter1BackgroundDOD Has Developed a Readiness Recovery Plan with Goals andMetricsGround Domain Readiness Has Increased While Sea DomainReadiness Has Declined from Fiscal Year 2017 through FiscalYear 2019, with Mixed Changes in Air, Space, and CyberDomainsAgency Comments1214Appendix IObjectives, Scope and Methodology16Appendix IIComments from the Department of Defense21Appendix IIIGAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgements22Related GAO Products4923FiguresFigure 1: Department of Defense’s Resource ReadinessDefinitionsFigure 2: Department of Defense’s Mission Capability ReadinessDefinitionsFigure 3: GAO’s Selection of Force Elements and Mission Areaswithin the Ground, Sea, Air, Space, and CyberWarfighting DomainsFigure 4: Change in Domain Resource and Mission CapabilityReadiness Ratings from Fiscal Years 2017-2019Page i56813GAO-21-279 Military Readiness
AbbreviationsActCJCSDODDRRSJohn S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act forFiscal Year 2019Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffDepartment of DefenseDefense Readiness Reporting SystemThis is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in theUnited States. The published product may be reproduced and distributed in its entiretywithout further permission from GAO. However, because this work may containcopyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may benecessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately.Page iiGAO-21-279 Military Readiness
Letter441 G St. N.W.Washington, DC 20548April 7, 2021The Honorable Jack ReedChairmanThe Honorable James M. InhofeRanking MemberCommittee on Armed ServicesUnited States SenateThe Honorable Adam SmithChairmanThe Honorable Mike RogersRanking MemberCommittee on Armed ServicesHouse of RepresentativesFor decades, the United States has enjoyed unchallenged or dominantmilitary advantage, according to the Department of Defense (DOD). DODcould generally deploy forces when it wanted, assemble them where itwanted, and operate how it wanted. In the 2018 National DefenseStrategy, however, DOD noted that every warfighting domain—ground,sea, air, space, and cyberspace—is now contested as potentialadversaries, most notably China and Russia, have developed andenhanced their own capabilities. 1 At the same time, our work has shownthat nearly 2 decades of conflict has degraded U.S. military readiness. Tomaintain the U.S. military’s advantage across all domains in a newsecurity environment characterized by great-power competition, DOD isworking to rebuild and restore readiness while also modernizing itsforces.1“Domain”refers to the following operational areas, as defined by DOD: The ground (orland) domain is the area of the Earth’s surface ending at the high water mark andoverlapping with the sea/maritime domain in the landward segment of the littorals. Thesea (or maritime) domain is the oceans, seas, bays, estuaries, islands, coastal areas, andairspace above these, including the littorals. The air domain is the atmosphere, beginningat the Earth’s surface, extending to the altitude where its effects upon operations becomenegligible. The space domain is the area above the altitude where atmospheric effects onairborne objects become negligible. Cyber (or cyberspace) is a global domain within theinformation environment consisting of the interdependent networks of informationtechnology infrastructures and resident data, including the internet, telecommunicationsnetworks, computer systems, and embedded processors and controllers.Page 1GAO-21-279 Military Readiness
The Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives hasstated that the military services should demonstrate measurablereadiness recovery with the additional appropriations made in fiscal year2017 as well as the funding authorized and appropriated for fiscal years2018 and 2019. Accordingly, the John S. McCain National DefenseAuthorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, Pub. L. No. 115-232, §333 (Aug.13, 2018) (the “Act”), included a provision that the Secretary of Defenseshall identify and establish metrics for measuring readiness to conductfull-spectrum operations in the ground, sea, air, space, and cyberdomains and for us to evaluate the validity of DOD’s readiness metrics. 2The Act also included a provision for us to report annually through 2022—using fiscal year 2017 as a baseline—on the readiness of the armedforces to conduct full-spectrum operations in the ground, sea, air, space,and cyber domains in order to assess readiness changes over time. InAugust 2019, we issued a classified report on readiness changes thatoccurred from fiscal year 2017 through fiscal year 2018 and in January2020 we issued a classified report on readiness changes that occurredfrom fiscal year 2017 through fiscal year 2019. 3This report describes (1) the extent to which DOD has established a planwith goals and metrics for readiness recovery and (2) how readiness haschanged from fiscal year 2017 through fiscal year 2019 in the ground,sea, air, space, and cyber warfighting domains. We plan to begin worklater this year on a separate classified report on readiness changes thatoccurred from fiscal year 2017 through fiscal year 2020.To address our objectives, we reviewed DOD and military servicedocumentation and plans for readiness recovery, as well as our previous2DOD defines full-spectrum superiority as the cumulative effect of dominance in the air,land, maritime, and space domains; electromagnetic spectrum; and informationenvironment (which includes cyberspace) that permits the conduct of joint operationswithout effective opposition or prohibitive interference.3GAO,Military Readiness: Readiness Improved in the Ground and Cyber Domains butDeclined in the Sea, Air, and Space Domains from Fiscal Year 2017 to Fiscal Year 2018,GAO-19-499C (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 30, 2019) and Military Readiness: ImprovementsHave Been Made in Some Warfighting Domains from Fiscal Year 2017 to Fiscal Year2019, But Domains Did Not Meet Readiness Goals, GAO-20-302C (Washington, D.C.:Jan. 2020). Due to the worldwide pandemic that limited consistent access to conductclassified work, the draft report GAO-20-302C is considered the final report.Page 2GAO-21-279 Military Readiness
reports assessing DOD’s readiness recovery efforts. 4 We also obtainedthe views of officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, militaryservices, and Joint Staff on readiness reporting. 5 Further, we updated theunclassified portions of our previously issued classified reports andobtained views from officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense,the Joint Chiefs of Staff, military services, and related commands.Appendix I provides further details on our objectives, scope, andmethodology.This is a public version of classified reports that we issued from August2018 through January 2020. 6 DOD deemed some of the information inour reports as SECRET, which requires it be protected from publicdisclosure. Specifically, the previously-issued classified reports includedappendixes discussing changes that occurred from fiscal year 2017through fiscal year 2019 in the readiness of selected forces in the ground,sea, air, space, and cyber warfighting domains, along with challengesDOD has identified for recovering readiness in each domain. Additionally,these classified reports provided detailed information on the readinessratings of mission areas and force elements, where applicable, in each ofthe five warfighting domains, along with other information on readinessrecovery and challenges. Consequently, this public version excludesthose appendixes and detailed readiness ratings. Although theinformation provided in this report is more limited, this report uses thesame methodology as the previously issued classified reports. A list ofrelated classified and unclassified GAO products is provided in theRelated GAO Products pages at the end of this report.We conducted this performance audit from October 2020 to April 2021 inaccordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtainsufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for ourfindings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that4See,for example, GAO, Military Readiness: Update on DOD’s Progress in Developing aReadiness Rebuilding Plan, GAO-18-441RC, (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 10, 2018) andMilitary Readiness: Update on DOD’s Readiness Recovery and Domain ReadinessAssessment, GAO-19-390C (Washington, D.C.: May 6, 2019).5OnDecember 20, 2019, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020,Pub. L. No. 116-92, established the United States Space Force as a military service withinDOD. We did not gather information or data from the Space Force in our previously issuedclassified reports given its status as a new organization. As a result, throughout this reportwe refer to only four military services within DOD.6GAO-18-441RC,Page 3GAO-19-390C, GAO-19-499C, and GAO-20-302C.GAO-21-279 Military Readiness
the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings andconclusions based on our audit objectives.BackgroundDOD Readiness ReportingDOD defines “readiness” as the ability of the U.S. military forces to fightand meet the demands of assigned missions. Each of the militaryservices collects and analyzes readiness information on its forces undergeneral readiness reporting guidelines laid out in joint instruction. 7 Thisinstruction requires joint and service unit commands to evaluate, in nearreal-time, the readiness of forces to accomplish assigned and potentialtasks through the Defense Readiness Reporting System (DRRS)—DOD’ssystem of record for readiness data. 8 Specifically, the instruction requiresthat the commanders of each unit assess and report on the readiness ofunits, at least monthly, in two primary ways: 9 The first readiness assessment and reporting requirement is the Clevel, which is the unit commander’s assessment of their units’ abilityto undertake the wartime or primary missions for which the unit isorganized or designed. C-levels include the status of four distinctresource indicators-personnel (P), equipment availability (S),equipment readiness (R), and how well the unit is trained to conductits missions (T). The status of each resource indicator is rated on ascale of 1 (highest) to 4 (lowest) and then reported in an overall Clevel (see figure 1). A unit’s C-level is equal to the lowest of thereported levels for the four resource indicators. Units that areundergoing service-directed resource actions, such as majorequipment changes, may be rated as a 5, but they are not consideredto be available for deployment for their primary missions. Throughoutthis report we refer to a unit’s reported C level as its “resourcereadiness” rating.7Chairmanof the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 3401.02B, Force Readiness Reporting(May 31, 2011).8Accordingto the Department of Defense Directive 7730.65, Department of DefenseReadiness Reporting System (DRRS) (May 31, 2018), DRRS provides the means tomonitor the readiness of DOD components to provide capabilities to support the NationalMilitary Strategy consistent with DOD priorities and planning direction.9Reportingunits vary in size and composition. For example a fighter unit—specifically, anF-22 unit—reports readiness by squadron and each squadron contains a minimum of 20total aircraft.Page 4GAO-21-279 Military Readiness
Figure 1: Department of Defense’s Resource Readiness Definitions The second readiness assessment and reporting requirement is theY/Q/N assessment, (hereafter referred to as the “mission capabilityreadiness” ratings), in which joint and service unit commands evaluatethe readiness of forces to accomplish assigned and potential tasks.This reporting requirement is meant to allow commanders, militaryservice chiefs, and agency directors to assess the ability of theirorganizations to accomplish a task to standard, based on theircapabilities, under conditions specified in their joint mission-essentialtask list or agency mission-essential task list. 10 This assessmentshould be informed by observed performance, resource availability,and military judgment, and it is measured on a scale that includesthree ratings: “Y” or “yes” (highest), “Q” or “qualified yes,” and “N” or“no” (lowest) (see figure 2).10Mission-essentialtasks range from conducting assessments of the ability to conduct airrefueling operations for the air domain to the ability to conduct sustainment operations forthe ground domain.Page 5GAO-21-279 Military Readiness
Figure 2: Department of Defense’s Mission Capability Readiness DefinitionsDOD uses readiness data from DRRS to produce two key readinessreports:GAO’s Approach toEvaluating DomainReadiness The Semiannual Readiness Report to Congress—prepared by theOffice of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel andReadiness and containing information contributed by the militaryservices, combatant commands, and Joint Staff, and detailing militaryreadiness on a semiannual basis. 11 The Semiannual Joint Force Readiness Review—prepared by theChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and assessing the armed forces’capability to execute their wartime missions under the NationalMilitary Strategy. 12In 2018, Congress directed us to report annually on the readiness of thearmed forces in the ground, sea, air, space, and cyber domains in orderto monitor and assess DOD’s rebuilding readiness efforts over time. Todo so, we reviewed DOD and military service documentation to identifythe forces for each domain that DOD prioritized for readiness11This report was completed quarterly prior to passage of section 361 of the NationalDefense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, Pub. L. No 116-92 (2019), whichamended sections 117 and 482 of Title 10 by requiring the Secretary of Defense toprovide Congress with a report on the readiness of the armed forces (among others) notlater than 30 days after the end of the second and fourth calendar year quarters.12Thisreport was completed quarterly prior to passage of Section 361 of the NationalDefense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, Pub. L. No. 116-92 (2019), whichamended sections 117 and 482 of Title 10 and required the Chairman of the Joint Chiefsof Staff to provide Congress, not later than 30 days after the first and third quarter of eachcalendar year, a written report on the capability of the armed forces (among others) toexecute their wartime mission based on their posture and readiness as of the time thereport is conducted.Page 6GAO-21-279 Military Readiness
improvement or considered critical to executing wartime plans, or that aremain components of that domain. We obtained the views of officials fromthe Office of the Secretary of Defense, military services, and Joint Staffon our selections, and we revised our samples as appropriate.Based on that information, we selected mission areas within each domainin order to group similar capabilities from across the services. Forexample, in the air domain we selected the mission area fighters, whichincludes fighter jet units from across DOD. Further, we selected specificforce elements or subset of units within each mission area. We define aforce element as equivalent to a military unit, and the composition of amilitary unit varies according to its type and function. For example, underthe mission area fighters we include the force element, F-35, which isused by the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, although each service’sF-35 unit may vary in composition. 13 See figure 3 for all warfightingdomains, mission areas, and force elements that we selected to analyzeand report on within our congressionally mandated reports on DODdomain readiness. 1413Weselected a non
Apr 08, 2021 · The Department of Defense (DOD) has developed a plan for readiness . readiness recovery with the additional appropriations made in fiscal year . Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, Pub. L. No 116-92 (2019), which amended sections 117 and
TM 9-2320-279-24P-2 This Manual In Conjunction with TM 9-2320-279-24P-1 supersedes TM 9-2320-279-20P, TM 9-2320-279-34P-1, TM 9-2320-279-34P2 and Appendix B of TM 9-2815-224-34&P in their entirety. TECHNICAL MANUAL UNIT, DIRECT SUPPORT AND GENERAL SUPPORT MAINTENANCE REPAIR PARTS AND S
Physical Data and Specifications—Upflow Models U.S. and Canadian Models MODEL NUMBERS R95PA0401317MSA R95PA0601317MSA R95PA0701317MSA R95PA085121MSA R95PA1001521MSA R95PA1151524MSA HIGH ALTITUDE OUTPUT BLOWER (D x W) [mm] 11 x 7 [279 x 178] 11 x 8 [279 x 203] 11 x 8 [279 x 203] 11 x 10 [279 x 254] 11 x 10 [279 x 254] 11 x 11 [279 x 279] MOTOR .
Military scholars have found that the key components of readiness include, among other factors, recruitment, reputation, retention, unit cohesion, morale, medical readiness, and good order and discipline. The transgender ban impairs the readiness of the U.S. military
Military Community & Family Policy . 2 . Execution Military OneSource Non-medical counseling Spouse Education and Career Opportunities, Military Spouse Employment Partnership and My Career Advancement Account Military Families Learning Network Military Family Readiness Program Accreditation Program Evaluation
Answer Key Question Number Reporting Category Readiness or Supporting Content Expectation Correct Answer Reading Selection 1 - Black Holes 1 1 Supporting 3.4C C 2 3 Readiness 3.13 Figure 19(E) A 3 3 Readiness 3.13B D 4 3 Readiness 3.13A C 5 3 Readiness 3.13C A 6 1 Readiness 3.4B D 7 3 Supporting 3.16 A
Navy This branch of our nation’s armed services conducts military operations at sea, world-wide. According to the Department of Defense, its focus is “maintaining the freedom of the seas, deterring aggression, and achieving victory at war.” Like the Air Force, the Navy has many aircraft to assist with protecting the seas.File Size: 959KBPage Count: 12Explore furtherUnderstanding the 5 Branches of US Military - US Militaryusmilitary.comBasic Branches of the United States Armylibarts.hamptonu.eduU.S. National Military Chain-of-Commanddde.carlisle.army.milArmy Branches Military Science - SOU Homeinside.sou.eduWhat Are the Branches of the US Military? Military.comwww.military.comRecommended to you b
Supersedes: AFI36-2608, 26 October 2015 Certified by: SAF/MR (Mr. John A. Fedrigo) Pages: 140 This instruction implements Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 1336.08, Military Human Resource Records Life Cycle Management, and is consistent with DAFPD 36-25, Military Promotion and Demotion. It applies to all military and civilian members of .File Size: 1MBPage Count: 176Explore furtherAFI 36-2608 Military Personnel Records System Air Force .www.airforcecounseling.comAFI 36-2608 Military Personnel Records System Air Force .www.airforcecounseling.comAFI 36-2608 - MILITARY PERSONNEL RECORDS SYSTEMS .standards.globalspec.comAIR FORCE - AFI 36-2608 - MILITARY PERSONNEL RECORDS .standards.globalspec.comAIR FORCE - AFI 36-2608 - MILITARY PERSONNEL RECORDS .standards.globalspec.comRecommended to you based on what's popular Feedback
Studies have shown veterinary surgeons do not feel they receive adequate training in small animal nutrition during veterinary school. In a 1996 survey among veterinarians in the United States, 70% said their nutrition education was inadequate. 3. In a 2013 survey in the UK, 50% of 134 veterinarians felt their nutrition education in veterinary school was insufficient and a further 34% said it .
