GAO: Navy’s fleet plan needs more work

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GAO: Navy’s fleet plan needs more work
By Zachary M. Peterson - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 1, 2008 16:51:04 EST

The Navy needs to better assess the resources necessary to achieve its goals for the 5-year-old Fleet Response Plan, according to a Government Accountability Office study released Friday.

The FRP was introduced in 2003 to bolster readiness by altering the way the service conducts training, performs maintenance and sets manning.

The study by the investigative arm of Congress found that the Navy has “taken several positive steps” toward the implementation of the FRP by defining missions and desired outcomes, establishing implementation goals, measuring performance and aligning activities with resources. Nonetheless, the service needs to develop implementation goals, performance measures and assess the resources required to execute FRP under “changing conditions,” the report states.

Under the FRP, the Navy implemented the goal of having three carrier strike groups deployed, three ready to deploy within 30 days of orders and one more ready to go within 90 days of orders — what the Navy refers to as “3+3+1.” Yet the Navy has yet to establish a similar construct for expeditionary strike groups or other forces, the report notes.

The Navy wants to execute the FRP without spending additional funds; however, without a considering “long-term risks and tradeoffs associated with changes made as FRP has been implemented,” this could be difficult, the GAO found. For example, carrier operational and maintenance cycles and force structure are not fully accounted for in the Navy’s current planning.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/02/navy_fleetresponse_080201w/