Increased Overseas Current overseas and domestic missions are stressing U.S. forces as measured in personnel tempo data. DOD believes that if servicemembers spend too much time away from home, a risk exists that they will leave the service and military readiness may ultimately suffer. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000" requires that DOD formally track and manage for the number of days that each member of the armed forces is deployed and established two thresholdsservicemembers deployed more than 182 or 220 days away from home out of the preceding 365 days. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001" established a third threshold, which requires that servicemembers who are deployed for 401 or more days out of the preceding 730-day (2-year) period receive a $100 high deployment per diem allowance." Between September 2001 and December 2002, personnel tempo increased dramatically for Army and Air Force personnel due to ongoing missions or commitments around the world and their increasing support of Operations Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom." DOD data that we obtained indicated tempo is high and increasing. For example, as shown in figure 1, in September 2001, over 6,600 Army personnel (including active, reserve, and National Guard personnel) had exceeded a desired threshold, spending 182 to 219 days away from home during the previous 365 days. By December 2002, that number had risen to over 13,000. During the same period, the number spending 220 to 365 days away, had risen from about 800 to over 18,000. "P.L. 106-65 (Oct. 6, 1999), §586(a) (codified at 10 U.S.C. §991). "P.L. 106-398 (Oct. 30, 2000), §574(c) (codified at 37 U.S.C. §436). On October 8, 2001, DOD suspended the counting of deployed days for payment purposes as permitted by law. Moreover, the statutory requirement for general and flag officers to personally manage the deployments of servicemembers exceeding the 182- and 220-day thresholds was also suspended at the same time. 21 The data does not include the impact on personnel tempo stemming from participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom, which is not yet fully available. Operation Enduring Freedom is the ongoing military mission in Afghanistan. While the Navy and Marine Corps did not experience high levels of personnel tempo during the October 2000 to December 2002 time frame, their tempo may have increased due in part to deployments for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Air Force reported similar trends. As shown in figure 2, in September 2001, about 2,100 Air Force servicemembers were away from home for 182 to 219 days, but that had risen to about 8,300 by December 2002. Also, as with the Army, Air Force servicemembers away 220 to 365 days had risen from about 1,600 to over 22,100. The number of Air Force active, Air Force reserve, and Air National Guard Air Force personnel exceeding the third personnel tempo threshold of 401 or more days away from home in the preceding 730-day period also increased during the latter period of 2002, starting at about 3,700 personnel in September 2002 and rising to more than 8,100 servicemembers in December 2002. Of those, about one-half of these personnel were Air National Guard personnel, some of whom were tasked with conducting air sovereignty alert missions in the continental United States." In September 2002, 1,900 had spent more than 401 days away from 22 These servicemembers are deployed from their home to another installation in the United States. home over a 2-year period. By December 2002, the number of Air National Guard personnel spending more than 401 days away from home had increased to about 3,900. Exceeding the threshold on a sustained basis can indicate an inadequacy in the force structure or the mix of forces. DOD has recognized the potential for retention problems stemming from the current high personnel tempo but has balanced that against immediate critical skill needs to support ongoing operations. Therefore, to prevent servicemembers with key skills from leaving the services, DOD issued orders to prevent degradation in combat capabilities, an action known as stop loss authority. DOD took these actions because it recognized that individuals with certain key skills—such as personnel in Army military police and Air Force fighter units were needed, in some cases, to perform the increasing number of military domestic missions. These orders affected personnel with designated individual job skills or in some cases all of the individuals in specific types of units that were critical for overseas combat and military domestic missions. Officials from the four services who manage the implementation of these orders cautioned that they are short-term tools designed to maintain unitlevel military readiness for overseas combat and military domestic missions. Moreover, the officials added that the orders are not to be used as a long-term solution to address mismatches or shortfalls in capabilities and requirements, or as a substitute for the routine recruiting, induction, and training of new servicemembers. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be happy to answer any questions that you or members of the subcommittee may have. Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments For future questions about this statement, please contact Raymond J. Decker at (202) 512-6020. Individuals making key contributions to this statement include Brian J. Lepore, Deborah Colantonio, Richard K. Geiger, Kevin L. O'Neill, William J. Rigazio, Susan K. Woodward, and Michael C. Zola. Related GAO Products Combating Terrorism: Observations on National Strategies Related to Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Homeland Security: Management Challenges Facing Federal Leadership. Homeland Security: Effective Intergovernmental Coordination Is Key to Reserve Forces: DOD Actions Needed to Better Manage Relations between Reservists and Their Employers. GAO-02-608. Washington, D.C.: June 13, 2002. Homeland Security: Key Elements to Unify Efforts Are Underway but Homeland Security: A Risk Management Approach Can Guide Combating Terrorism: Selected Challenges and Related Combating Terrorism: Comments on Counterterrorism Leadership and Military Personnel: Full Extent of Support to Civil Authorities Unknown but Unlikely to Adversely Impact Retention. GAO-01-9. Washington, D.C.: January 26, 2001. Combating Terrorism: Federal Response Teams Provide Varied Combating Terrorism: Linking Threats to Strategies and Resources. |