Military Transformation: Realistic Deployment Timelines Needed for Army Stryker Brigades
GAO-03-801
Published: Jun 30, 2003. Publicly Released: Jun 30, 2003.
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Highlights
The Army is organizing and equipping rapidly deployable Stryker brigades as the first step in its planned 30-year transformation. Stryker brigades are to help fill a gap in capabilities between current heavy and light forces--heavy forces require too much time to deploy, and light infantry forces lack the combat power and mobility of the heavy forces. The Army has a goal to be able to deploy a Stryker brigade anywhere in the world with 4 days. As part of a series of ongoing reviews of Army transformation, GAO assessed the Army's progress in (1) meeting its deployment goal for Stryker brigades and (2) supporting and sustaining a deployed Stryker brigade in combat operations.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should examine alternatives to the 96-hour worldwide deployment goal for Stryker brigades and work with the U.S. Transportation Command and its components to set realistic deployment timelines for the brigades that reflect the use of both airlift and sealift, the size of the deployed force, a brigade's location, and its destination. |
Closed – Not Implemented
DOD stated that the 96-hour time period was a goal, not a standard. Further, DOD officials stated that the goal of moving an entire Stryker brigade within 96-hours was possible, assuming enough resources were dedicated to the task. Accordingly, there has been no movement to modify the goal of deploying a Stryker brigade in 96-hours. However, to improve the brigade's ability to deploy faster, DOD has made efforts to improve efficiencies, namely improving infrastructure (to increase force throughput at Army and AF installations).
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| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should examine alternatives to the 96-hour worldwide deployment goal for Stryker brigades and work with the U.S. Transportation Command and its components to set realistic deployment timelines for the brigades that take into account any organizational or operational changes to the brigades resulting from modifications and enhancements directed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. |
Closed – Not Implemented
The Army is continuing to make changes to the overall size and composition of the Stryker brigade. The current transition is to increase the number of soldier-mechanics in the brigade, which will make the brigade heavier and harder to meet the 96-hour goal. The Army does factor deployability and speed when examining alternatives; however, because they don't consider 96-hours a standard (see Rec. 1), all deployment timelines are considered realistic, given sufficient resources.
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Combat readinessDefense contingency planningMilitary forcesMilitary operationsMobilizationStrategic mobility forcesStrategic planningU.S. ArmyAircraft acquisition programU.S. Air Force