Force Structure: Joint Seabasing Would Benefit from a Comprehensive Management Approach and Rigorous Experimentation Before Services Spend Billions on New Capabilities

摘要

Joint seabasing is one of several evolving concepts for projecting and sustaining forces without relying on immediate access to nearby land bases and could be the source of billions of dollars of investment. In future security environments, the Department of Defense (DOD) expects to encounter situations of reduced or denied access to areas of operation. Even where forward operating bases are otherwise available, their use may be politically undesirable or operationally restricted. GAO was asked to address the extent to which (1) DOD has employed a comprehensive management approach to joint seabasing, (2) DOD has developed a joint experimentation campaign plan for joint seabasing, and (3) DOD and the services have identified the costs of joint seabasing options. For this review, GAO analyzed joint requirements documents, experimentation efforts, and service acquisition plans. GAO recommends that DOD develop a management approach that includes senior leadership involvement, a dedicated implementation team, and a communications strategy; and develop an experimentation campaign plan and total ownership cost estimates for seabasing options. DOD agreed with the recommendations, except for the need for a dedicated implementation team.