Army National Guard: Sharing Unit Training Equipment Would Help Avoid Maintenance Costs
NSIAD-97-206
Published: Sep 29, 1997. Publicly Released: Sep 29, 1997.
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Highlights
GAO determined the: (1) feasibility of Army National Guard units that annually train at the same site to pool and share equipment; (2) maintenance costs that the Guard would avoid by pooling and sharing equipment; and (3) ways the Guard can maximize equipment sharing at annual training sites.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | To optimize the avoidance of annual equipment maintenance costs and achieve the resulting benefits of having a more effective maintenance workforce and increased equipment availability for mobilization, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Director of the Army National Guard Bureau to develop and implement a strategy, along with the modernization of Guard units, to provide controlled humidity facilities at the training sites that will achieve the greatest cost avoidance benefit. |
The Army National Guard conducted a study to determine the best preservation techniques. Preliminary data results support the GAO recommendations. The Controlled Humidity Preservation Study results were provided to the Guard in September 1998. The results showed that the Guard can achieve cost benefits from the CHP program. To the extent that the Guard expands the use of CHP as a day-to-day way of doing business, it can achieve even greater cost avoidance. The Guard stated that as funding is available, it will provide and field CHP facilities at Guard Units in order to reduce O&M cost.
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| Department of Defense | To optimize the avoidance of annual equipment maintenance costs and achieve the resulting benefits of having a more effective maintenance workforce and increased equipment availability for mobilization, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Director of the Army National Guard Bureau to incorporate the concept of equipment sharing as the way of doing business in the Guard. |
The Army National Guard indicates that it shares equipment as a normal course of business. The Guard stated that the CHP study was not intended to evaluate various training or equipment rotation strategies. The Guard has shared equipment for use at Annual Training as a way of doing business. They currently practice the use of shared equipment and will continue this practice wherever feasible.
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| Department of Defense | To optimize the avoidance of annual equipment maintenance costs and achieve the resulting benefits of having a more effective maintenance workforce and increased equipment availability for mobilization, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Director of the Army National Guard Bureau to change the annual training locations of Guard units where feasible to achieve maximum cost avoidance benefits through greater equipment sharing while achieving training objectives. |
The Army National Guard does not support the concept of changing annual training sites due to increased travel time and transportation requirements. It would decrease available training time due to increased travel time to new training site.
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Topics
Armed forces reserve trainingArmy facilitiesCentralizationCost effectiveness analysisEquipment maintenanceMaintenance costsMilitary cost controlMilitary materielMilitary trainingNational Guard