The U.S. military's ability to meet demands has largely degraded over the past two decades, a Government Accountability Office report said on Friday.

"GAO found that reported domain readiness did not meet readiness recovery goals identified by the military services," a GAO statement on Friday said.

The Navy, the report said, has "limited maintenance capacity at private and public shipyards as the primary challenge for recovering ship and submarine readiness."

In the Air domain, the report spotlighted "the effects of Hurricane Michael and its associated infrastructure limitations on the Air Force's F-22 fighter jets; the effects of trained pilot shortages on the Army's AH-64 attack helicopter; and the effects of limited depot repair capacity on the Marine Corps' light attack helicopters."

The report also noted a lack of "readiness reporting" and goals in the Space Force.

"Based on our analysis of readiness data for selected force elements and mission areas within each of the five domains, readiness increased in the ground domain, declined in the sea domain, and had mixed changes in the air, space, and cyber domains," the 39-page report concluded.

The report emphasized numerous maintenance backlogs, notably with Navy vessels and aircraft, and noted that "two decades of conflict has degraded military readiness at a time when the National Defense Strategy calls for preparedness for great-power competition."

A classified version of the report offered a deeper analysis, with more examples, of what has hampered the U.S. military's readiness.

The report added that the Defense Department has already begun a plan, the "Readiness Recovery Framework," but has not established recommended metrics "to measure readiness in each domain."

Related Links
The latest in Military Technology for the 21st century at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Marine Corps prepares maternity uniforms
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 7, 2021
The U.S. Marine Corps announced Wednesday the upcoming rollout of maternity uniforms, with some to be available this month. Formal uniforms, known as "dress blues," do not currently fit the needs of female Marines in late stages of pregnancy, and service, dress, combat and physical training uniforms will be redesigned. A statement from the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., on Wednesday said the changes will incorporate "improvements to existing uniforms and the development o ... read more