Carrier strike groups are typically centered around an aircraft carrier and its air wing, and also include a guided missile cruiser; two guided missile destroyers; a frigate; an attack submarine; and one or more supply ships with ammunition, fuel, and supplies (such as food and spare parts). These groups are formed and disestablished on an as needed basis, and their compositions may differ though they contain similar types of ships. Figure 1 shows a carrier strike group sailing in a group formation as it prepares to participate in an exercise. Prior to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, only those Navy ships and air squadrons at peak readiness were deployed overseas, usually for 6 months at a time. Most of the Navy’s remaining units were not available because they were in early stages of their maintenance or training cycles, or because the Navy did not have good visibility of the readiness of these units. This prompted the Chief of Naval Operations in March 2003 to task the Commander, Fleet Forces Command, to develop the Fleet Response Plan concept to enhance the Navy’s surge capability. The Chief of Naval Operations approved the concept in May 2003 and further directed the Commander, Fleet Forces Command, to be responsible and accountable for effectively implementing the plan. The Fleet Response Plan emphasizes an increased level of readiness and the ability to quickly deploy naval forces to respond to crises, conflicts, or homeland defense needs. The plan applies broadly to the entire fleet; however, it only sets specific requirements for carrier strike groups. For example, the plan calls for eight carrier strike groups to be ready to deploy within 90 days of notification. Six of them would be available to deploy within 30 days and the other two within 90 days. This is commonly referred to as the 6 + 2 goal. Under the Fleet Response Plan, the Navy has developed a surge capability schedule that it uses to manage and identify the level of training a ship has completed and its readiness to deploy. The schedule contains three progressive readiness goals: emergency surge, surge-ready, and routine deployable status. Each readiness goal specifies phases of training that must be completed to achieve the goal. To be placed in emergency surge status, a ship or an air squadron needs to have completed its unit-level phase training. Achieving surge-ready status requires the completion of integrated phase training. Attaining routine deployable status requires achievement of all necessary capabilities, completion of underway sustainment phase training, and certification of the unit for forward deployed operations. The surge capabilities schedule provides a readiness snapshot for each ship, allowing decision makers to quickly determine which ships are available to meet the needs of the mission. Figure 2 illustrates how the Navy notionally identifies the eight aircraft carriers available for surge deployments. The carriers numbered 1 through 6 are expected to be ready to deploy within 30 days notice. The carriers labeled “+1” and “+2” are expected to able to surge within 90 days notice. The six surge-ready carriers include two carriers on deployment (numbered 3 and 4), one carrier that is part of the forward deployed naval force based in Japan (number 6), and three carriers in the sustainment phase (numbered 1, 2, and 5). These six carriers are expected to have completed postdeployment depot-level maintenance and their unit-level phase training. The two additional surge carriers are expected to have completed depot-level maintenance but not to have completed unit-level phase training. The remaining four carriers are in the maintenance phase or deep maintenance. Based on the Navy’s experiences during the past 2 years, Fleet Forces Command has convened a cross-functional working group to develop a refined version of the Fleet Response Plan. This update, known as Fleet Response Plan-Enhanced, is intended to further define the Fleet Response Plan, modify terminology for progressive readiness states to better reflect their meaning, tie in elements such as a human capital strategy, and expand the focus of the plan beyond carrier strike groups to the entire Navy. It may also extend the Fleet Response Plan’s current employment cycle length of 27 months. The Fleet Response Plan-Enhanced is still under development at this time. The Navy’s management approach in establishing the Fleet Response Plan as its new readiness construct has not fully incorporated sound management practices needed to effectively guide, monitor, and assess implementation. Studies by several organizations have shown that successful organizations in both the public and private sectors use sound management practices to assist agencies in measuring performance, reporting results, and achieving desired outcomes. These practices provide management with a framework for effectively implementing and managing programs and shift program management focus from measuring program activities and processes to measuring program outcomes. Sound management practices include (1) establishing a coherent mission and integrated strategic goals to guide the transformation, including resource commitments; (2) setting implementation goals and a timeline to build momentum and show progress from day one; and (3) establishing a communication strategy to create shared expectations and report related progress. The Navy’s implementation of the Fleet Response Plan has included some aspects of these practices. For example, the Navy has established some strategic goals needed to meet the intent of the plan, such as the progressive readiness levels of emergency surge, surge-ready, and routine deployable status. The Navy also has established specific training actions to support these goals, such as that carrier strike groups must complete unit-level training to be certified as emergency surge-ready. However, other actions taken by the Navy do not fully incorporate these practices. For example, the Navy has identified the 6 + 2 surge capability as a readiness goal and performance measure for carrier strike groups, but no such goal was established for the rest of the fleet. The Navy also has some unofficial goals and performance measures regarding manning and maintenance, but these unofficial goals and performance measures have not been formally established. For example, briefings on the Fleet Response Plan state that the Navy desires and needs fully manned ships (i.e., manning at 100 percent of a ship’s requirement) for the program to be successful. Moreover, according to Navy officials, the Navy has not established milestones for achieving its results. In addition, 2 years after initiating implementation of the Fleet Response Plan, the Navy still does not have an official written definition of the Fleet Response Plan that clearly establishes a coherent mission and integrated strategic goals to guide the transformation, including resource commitments. This definition would describe the Fleet Response Plan’s total scope and contain guidance with formal goals and performance measures. The Navy recently has taken some action to address this area. In February 2005, the Navy directed the Center for Naval Analyses to conduct a study to develop formal definitions and guidance as well as identify goals and performance measures for the plan. However, it remains to be seen whether this study will be completed as planned by November 2005; if it will recommend developing and implementing sound management practices, such as goals, measures, milestones, and timelines; and whether any management improvement recommendations made in the study will be implemented by the Fleet Forces Command, the Navy command responsible for implementing the Fleet Response Plan. Without goals, performance measures, timelines, milestones, benchmarks, and guidance to help effectively manage implementation of the Fleet Response Plan and determine if the plan is achieving its goals, the Navy may find it more difficult to implement the Fleet Response Plan across the entire naval force. Moreover, despite the Navy’s unofficial goal that the Fleet Response Plan be budget neutral, as articulated in briefings and by senior leaders, the Navy has not yet clearly identified the resources needed to achieve its goals or provided a rationale for how these resources will contribute to achieving the expected level of performance. Navy officials have said that current operations and maintenance funding levels, as well as manning at 100 percent of required positions, have contributed to successful implementation of the Fleet Response Plan. However, officials do not know what level of manning or funding is actually required for program success over the long term to avoid any unintended consequences, such as greater amounts of deferred maintenance. According to Navy officials, it is difficult to attribute costs to the plan because there is no single budget line item that tracks the costs associated with the Fleet Response Plan. Without knowing the funding needed, the Navy may not be able to assess the impact of possible future changes in funding on implementing the plan. Furthermore, without a comprehensive plan that links costs with performance measures and outcomes, neither the Navy nor Congress may be able to determine if the Fleet Response Plan is actually achieving its unofficial goal of being budget neutral. Finally, the Navy also has not developed a comprehensive communications strategy that reaches out to employees, customers, and stakeholders and seeks to genuinely engage them in a two-way exchange, which is a critical step in successfully implementing cultural change or transformation. We looked for formal mechanisms that communicated the details of the Fleet Response Plan and spoke with personnel from carrier strike groups, aircraft carriers, air wings and an air squadron, one surface combatant ship, and other command staff. We found that while the Fleet Response Plan was communicated extensively to senior-level officers, and the Navy provided numerous briefings and messages related to the plan, communication and understanding of the plan did not flow through to the lower ranks. While the concept of the Fleet Response Plan is generally understood by some senior-level officials, many of the lower grade personnel on these ships were unaware of the scope, goals, and other aspects of the plan. In the absence of clear communication throughout the fleet via an overall communications strategy that could increase employee awareness of the Fleet Response Plan, its successful implementation could be impeded. Sound management practices, such as those noted above, were not fully used by the Navy because senior leaders wanted to quickly implement the Fleet Response Plan in response to the Chief of Naval Operations’ desires. However, without an overall management plan containing all of these elements to guide the implementation of such a major change, it may be difficult for the Navy and Congress to determine the extent to which the Fleet Response Plan is achieving the desired results, measure its overall progress, or determine the resources needed to implement the plan.