Warfighter Support: Preliminary Observations on DOD's Progress and Challenges in Distributing Supplies and Equipment to Afghanistan

In fiscal year 2009, the Department of Defense (DoD) reported that it spent $4 billion to move troops and materiel into Afghanistan, a mountainous, arid, land-locked country with few roads, no railway, and only four airports with paved runways over 3,000 meters. The terrain and weather in Afghanista...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Solis, William M, Russell, Cary, Balloon, Vincent, Bumgarner, John, Coffey, Carole, Hermes, Melissa, McMillen, Lisa, Peck, Geoffrey, Ritter, Bethann, Shaughnessy, Michael, Simon, Sarah, Watson, Angela, Weissman, Cheryl, Woods, Stephen, Zee, Delia
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
AFGHANISTAN CONFLICT
AIR MOBILITY COMMAND
AIRLIFT OPERATIONS
AIRPORTS
AUDITING
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
DEPLOYMENT AND DISTRIBUTION OPERATIONS CENTER
DISTRIBUTION
INFRASTRUCTURE
KUWAIT
LANDING FIELDS
LESSONS LEARNED
LOGISTICS SUPPORT
Logistics, Military Facilities and Supplies
MILITARY EQUIPMENT
MILITARY FORCE LEVELS
MOUNTAINS
QATAR
RAILROADS
ROADS
SUPPLIES
SURFACE DEPLOYMENT AND DISTRIBUTION COMMAND
TERRAIN
THEATER SUSTAINMENT COMMAND
TRANSPORTATION
TROOP DRAWDOWN
TROOP INCREASE
Unconventional Warfare
USCENTCOM(US CENTRAL COMMAND)
USTRANSCOM(US TRANSPORTATION COMMAND)
WEATHER
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Summary:In fiscal year 2009, the Department of Defense (DoD) reported that it spent $4 billion to move troops and materiel into Afghanistan, a mountainous, arid, land-locked country with few roads, no railway, and only four airports with paved runways over 3,000 meters. The terrain and weather in Afghanistan and surrounding countries pose further challenges to transporting supplies and equipment. In December 2009, the President announced that an additional 30,000 U.S. troops will be sent to Afghanistan by August 2010. Today's testimony discusses GAO's preliminary observations drawn from ongoing work reviewing DoD's logistics efforts supporting operations in Afghanistan, including the following: (1) the organizations involved and routes and methods used to transport supplies and equipment into and around Afghanistan; (2) steps DoD has taken to improve its distribution process, based on lessons learned from prior operations; and (3) challenges affecting DoD's ability to distribute supplies and equipment within Afghanistan, and its efforts to mitigate them. In conducting its audit work, GAO examined DoD guidance and other documentation relating to the processes of transporting supplies and equipment to Afghanistan and met with various cognizant officials and commanders in the United States, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Qatar. Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Defense, Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives. A classified version of this statement (GAO-10-462C) was delivered to a closed session of the Subcommittee on Defense, Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, on March 4, 2010.