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Observations on the Fleet Support Provided by the Navy's Shore Installations in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean

LCD-78-426A Published: Jan 26, 1979. Publicly Released: Jan 26, 1979.
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Highlights

The U.S. Seventh Fleet consisted of about 160 ships during peak operations in Southeast Asia. Today the fleet consists of about 50 ships. In spite of this reduction, the Navy continues to maintain an extensive shore establishment to provide the reduced fleet logistics support. The fleet reduction has led to idle capacities and has increased costs at the ship repair facilities. Positive action has been taken, however, to reduce overhead costs as much as possible. But Navy officials believe the primary contributors to increased costs are worldwide inflation and a reduction in the value of the U.S. dollar. GAO believes these developments provide even more reasons why the Navy should review its ship maintenance practices to assure that key economical approaches have been considered. Department of Defense (DOD) officials stated that the primary justification for retaining the depot maintenance capacity is that it meets contingency requirements. Although the Navy had computed wartime requirements for these activities, their determinations were not current, nor were they systematically developed.

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Defense capabilitiesDefense contingency planningDefense cost controlFacility repairsMobilizationNaval facilitiesNaval warfareOverhead costsRepair costsMilitary vessels