GAO-14-659R Prepositioned Stocks

441 G St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20548

June 24, 2014

Congressional Committees

Prepositioned Stocks: DOD’s Strategic Policy and Implementation Plan 

This report summarizes our work to date in response to section 321 of the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, Pub. L. No. 113-66. Section 321 requires the 

Department of Defense (DOD) to maintain a strategic policy on the programs of the department 

for prepositioned materiel and equipment that takes into account national security threats, 

strategic mobility, service requirements, and the requirements of the combatant commands, and 

to address the ways in which the department’s prepositioning programs, both ground and afloat, 

align with national defense strategies and departmental priorities. The act also requires that not 

later than 120 days after the date of the act, DOD is to submit to the congressional defense 

committees a plan for implementation of the prepositioning strategic policy. Section 321 further 

requires that not later than 180 days after the enactment of the act, GAO is to review the

submitted strategic policy and implementation plan required and to provide to the defense 

committees a report describing our findings and any additional information that we determine is 

appropriate relating to the prepositioning strategic policy and implementation plan. 

To respond to the mandate, we contacted the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for 

Logistics and Materiel Readiness, designated by DOD as responsible for the strategic policy 

and implementation plan in response to the statutory requirements, to discuss DOD’s progress 

in developing the policy and plan and to obtain DOD’s written submission to Congress in 

response to section 321. We reviewed the letters DOD submitted to Congress regarding its 

mandate and our previous work concerning the need for DOD to develop department-wide 

strategic guidance and implement a coordinated joint-service approach for managing its 

prepositioning programs, as well as relevant DOD documents and military service guidance. 

We found that, as of June 24, 2014, DOD has not submitted a strategic policy or an 

implementation plan to congressional committees as mandated by section 321. In letters to the 

defense committees dated April 24, 2014, DOD stated it would establish an enterprise-focused 

working group that would develop strategic guidance, including joint oversight for DOD’s 

prepositioning programs, and that a response would be provided by the end of March 2015 to 

allow the group to develop the necessary guidance and oversight. 

Because the policy and plan have not been finalized, we cannot review the documents as 

mandated. However, we will continue to monitor DOD’s progress and will review the strategic 

policy and implementation plan for prepositioning as mandated by section 321 when they 

become available. We will work with your staff on the timing of our future report.

We conducted our work from May to June 2014 in accordance with all sections of GAO’s Quality 

Assurance Framework that are relevant to our objectives. The framework requires that we plan 

and perform the engagement to obtain sufficient and appropriate evidence to meet our stated 

objectives and to discuss any limitations in our work. We believe that the information and data 
Page 2 GAO-14-659R Prepositioned Stocks

obtained, and the analysis conducted, provide a reasonable basis for any findings and 

conclusions in this report.

We provided a draft of this report to DOD for review and comment. On June 9, 2014, the Military 

Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Supply Chain Integration stated that 

the information presented in the draft report was accurate.

- - - - -

We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional committees and to the 

Secretary of Defense. The report is also available at no charge on the GAO website at 

http://www.gao.gov.

If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-5431 or

russellc@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs 

may be found on the last page of this letter.

Cary Russell

Director

Defense Capabilities and Management
Page 3 GAO-14-659R Prepositioned Stocks

List of Committees

The Honorable Carl Levin

Chairman

The Honorable James M. Inhofe

Ranking Member

Committee on Armed Services

United States Senate

The Honorable Richard J. Durbin

Chairman

The Honorable Thad Cochran

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Defense

Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate

The Honorable Howard P. “Buck” McKeon

Chairman

The Honorable Adam Smith

Ranking Member

Committee on Armed Services

House of Representatives

The Honorable Rodney Frelinghuysen

Chairman

The Honorable Pete Visclosky

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Defense

Committee on Appropriations

House of Representatives

(351928)
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