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GAO-15-457R 1 (2015-05-26)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaaixu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAOU.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 May 26, 2015 Congressional Committees Defense Transportation: Air Force's Airlift Study Met Mandate Requirements In January 2012, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued strategic guidance that called for recalibrating joint force capabilities and making selective additional joint force investments in order to succeed in 10 enumerated mission areas.1 The guidance also noted that the balance between available resources and the nation's security needs has never been more delicate. DOD initiated a budget-reduction initiative in fiscal year 2013 to reduce the department's budget by $486.9 billion below its fiscal year 2012 level by fiscal year 2021. As part of that budget- reduction initiative, DOD planned to retire C-23 cargo planes, which are used by National Guard units both in their federal role as combat units and in their state role as first responders to natural disasters. The decision to retire these planes led to congressional committee interest in the adequacy of airlift to support military operations. Section 112 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012 required that the Secretary of the Air Force conduct a study to determine the number of fixed-wing (plane) and rotary-wing (helicopter) aircraft necessary to support the following four missions under Titles 10 and 32 of the U.S. Code-(1) homeland defense, (2) time-sensitive direct support, (3) disaster response, and (4) humanitarian assistance-at the following five levels of operational risk: low, medium, moderate, high, and very high.2 Section 112 also required that the study be completed in consultation with the Secretary of the Army, the Director of the National Guard Bureau, each supported commander of a combatant command, and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).3 Additionally, the Secretary of the Air Force was to submit a report containing the study to the congressional defense committees. According to the Air Force, the Air Force tasked Air Mobility Command to perform the airlift study and tasked Headquarters, Air Force, Analyses, Assessments, and Lessons Learned (A9) with finalizing the subsequent report based on the study. The Air Force entered into a contract with RAND to conduct the airlift study.4 RAND completed this classified 1Department of Defense, Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense (January 2012). The 10 enumerated mission areas are: (1) counter terrorism and irregular warfare; (2) deter and defeat aggression; (3) project power despite anti-access/area denial challenges; (4) counter weapons of mass destruction; (5) operate effectively in cyberspace and space; (6) maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent; (7) defend the homeland and provide support to civil authorities; (8) provide a stabilizing presence; (9) conduct stability and counterinsurgency operations; and (10) conduct humanitarian, disaster relief, and other operations. 2See Pub. L. No. 112-81, § 112(d) (2011). 3DOD's nine combatant commands are: (1) U.S. Africa Command, (2) U.S. Central Command, (3) U.S. European Command, (4) U.S. Northern Command, (5) U.S. Pacific Command, (6) U.S. Southern Command, (7) U.S. Special Operations Command, (8) U.S. Strategic Command, and (9) U.S. Transportation Command. 4RAND operates a federally funded research and development center that provides the Air Force with studies and analyses through a program called Project Air Force. Air Mobility Command, through the Project Air Force contract, funded RAND to conduct the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2012 Air Force Airlift Study. GAO-15-457R Defense Transportation

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