Although the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps state that they have established requirements for combat clothing that include performance capabilities and characteristics, we found that performance standards are not related to specific combat environments. In addition, we found technical production standards guide the manufacturing of uniforms for all four services. Camouflage effectiveness is no

The John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, Pub. L. No. 109-364, 323 directed the Comptroller General to assess (1) the Army's progress completing its modular transformation initiative; (2) the status of Army efforts to reconstitute its prepositioned material stock; and (3) the Army's progress in its efforts to repair, recapitalize, and replace equipment used in curre

This letter formally transmits the briefing in response to House Report No. 110-652, which accompanied the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Pub. L. No. 110-417). The House report directed the Secretary of the Army to submit a report on Logistics Modernization Program (LMP) implementation at Army depots and the expected end-state capabilities of LMP to the Sen

DOD, through its biennial core process, has not comprehensively and accurately assessed whether it has the required core capability to support fielded systems in military depots. Although DOD internally reported that its maintenance workload of 92.7 million hours in 2007 was "well over" the minimum of 70.5 million hours needed to fulfill core requirements at military depots and that the services

Army and Marine Corps body armor currently meets theater ballistic requirements and the required amount needed for personnel in theater, including the amounts needed for the surge of troops into Iraq. The Interceptor Body Armor (IBA) consists of an outer tactical vest with ballistic inserts or plates that cover the front, back, and sides. The vest and inserts currently meet the theater ballistic

The Departments of State, Defense, Energy, and Interior sponsored a wide variety of policy forums from 2001 through 2004 as part of their programs and missions within the United States and throughout the world. The four departments' data showed that U.S. officials participated in virtually all of these events. For example, of the approximately 8,800 policy forums the Department of State (State) r

The work assigned to Army maintenance depots has declined by 36 percent, although the cost of the Army's total maintenance program has increased since fiscal year 1987. Except for fiscal year 2003, projections for future work in the depots through fiscal 2008 show further decline. Depot work also changed from predominately overhauling Army end items to the increased repair of components. In addit

All the military services extensively use cannibalization--the removal of a working component from one aircraft to install it on another--as a routine aircraft maintenance strategy. However, neither the Department of Defense nor the services know the overall magnitude of this practice. Cannibalizations increase maintenance costs by increasing workloads, may affect morale and the retention of per

GAO noted that: (1) the Air Force is now implementing all three enhancement initiatives at its logistics centers, but the extent of implementation has varied; (2) the Air Force's plans established broad goals of increased operational efficiency and reduced costs, as well as an approach to implementing the initiatives; (3) however, the plans do not include specific criteria for determining that th

GAO discussed the mobilization of Army National Guard combat forces for the Persian Gulf war. GAO noted that: (1) the Army experienced many long-standing problems in readying brigades for the war, which affected proficiency at the individual and small-unit levels; (2) the problems were a reflection of the complexity of the skills required of large, ground combat maneuver units and a peacetime tra