Defense Transportation: Air Force's Airlift Study Met Mandate Requirements

Abstract

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.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 26, 2015
Accession Number
ADA619917

Entities

People

  • Anne Stevens
  • Cheryl Weissman
  • Guy Lofaro
  • Kim Seay
  • Martin de Alteriis
  • Mike Shaughnessy
  • Natasha Wilder
  • Randy Deleon

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Disasters
  • Emergency Response
  • First Responders
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Governments
  • Homeland Defense
  • Humanitarian Assistance
  • National Security
  • Rotary Wing Aircraft
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.