department of defense agency financial report fiscal year 2012

Department of Defense Agency Financial Report for FY 2012
3-1B. Joint Warfighting and Readiness IG Assessment of Progress
The Department is making progress to address the multitude of situations with
drawdown in Afghanistan, resetting equipment, ensuring the long-term viability of the
All-Volunteer force, but must also be ready to address new situations that will rise with
the expected reduction in available resources and the rebalancing of the force. The
National Security Strategy released in January 2012 placed increased emphasis on the
Pacific theater. This will present challenges to all of the components of the Department
as they shift their focus to the Pacific. The armed forces will have to train to fight
conventional and unconventional scenarios, and they will be challenged to do this with
diminishing resources while maintaining their readiness status. The Department will
have to provide additional oversight to ensure that the equipment reset process is
managed so that only unusable equipment is disposed and new equipment is fielded to
the intended users. The Department will also have to provide the necessary levels of
oversight to ensure that forces returning from Afghanistan, and their families, continue
to receive the support they need.
As the drawdown continues in Afghanistan, the Department must ensure the reserve
components have the equipment and training necessary to ensure readiness and the
ability to meet their various missions. The ongoing efforts to relocate service members
to Guam and other locations around the globe will enable the armed forces to better
shape and focus their force structure in a way that will provide greater flexibility in
responding to threats. The realignment of forces from Okinawa, Japan to Guam still
faces formidable challenges which have impacted projected costs and schedules to the
planned effort.
3-1C. Joint Warfighting and Readiness Department Response
Despite our consistently high operations tempo, the Department remains committed to
ensuring deployed forces around the globe are trained, equipped, and ready to perform
their assigned missions. Deploying capable and ready forces for current operations
continues to impact the non-deployed forces’ ability to prepare for full spectrum
operations. Non-deployed forces are focusing their available training time to prepare for
their next mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, hedging against execution
of other potential contingencies.
The withdrawal of forces from Iraq, combined with Presidential directives to reduce
deployed numbers in Afghanistan, has reduced the stress on forces in the near term;
however, the expected fiscal constraints looming on the horizon that may result in tough
decisions on materiel, manpower, and infrastructure could negate the positive aspects
expected from the reductions in operational stress. Additionally, even with the reduction
of ground forces in the Central Command area of responsibility, it is anticipated the
demand for Naval and Air Forces will continue unabated in the near term.
The Department is continually developing and refining comprehensive plans for both
resetting and rebalancing the total force, which includes all reserve component forces, in
the most effective and efficient manner possible. We recognize the most important part
of maintaining joint warfighting capability and readiness is caring for the all-volunteer
force. Finding the proper balance between maintaining readiness, force structure,
modernization, fiscal realities, and future threats remains the highest priority of the
Department’s leadership.
A-15
Addendum A