Title: Depot maintenance
Description: The Navy's depots provide critical maintenance support to operations around the world. The Department of Defense's (DOD) increased reliance on the private sector for depot maintenance support coupled with downsizing led to a deterioration of depots' capabilities and cost increases. In 2007, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) directed each service to submit a depot maintenance strategic plan and provided direction for the content of those plans. The 2007 U.S. Navy Depot Maintenance Strategic Plan contained a separate plan for each of five functional areas and an executive summary. GAO used qualitative content analyses to determine the extent to which two of the plans address (1) elements of a results-oriented management framework and (2) OSD's direction for the plan's content. GAO examined the plans for Navy aviation (NAVAIR) and ships (NAVSEA), which account for 94 percent of Navy depot workload. GAO is recommending that the Navy revise its plans to fully address all elements of the framework and all Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (OUSD [AT&L])-directed issues, demonstrate linkages in future strategic plans, and implement oversight procedures for reviewing future plan revisions and plan implementation. DOD concurred with our recommendations.
Subjects: Equipment, Maintenance and repair, Planning, Navy-yards and naval stations, American, Ships, Military Airplanes, Operational readiness, United States. Navy, United States, Appropriations and expenditures, Armed Forces, United States. Department of Defense, United States. Air Force