News
May 10, 2023
US military readiness “degraded” by two decades of conflict
The readiness levels of US military forces have suffered through the insurgencies of Iraq and Afghanistan.
By Richard Thomas
The US Department of Defense is facing several readiness challenges as it attempts to recapitalise its forces. Credit: US DoD
The latest US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report into the country’s military readiness, has repeated previously highlighted challenges faced by the services as they juggle recapitalisation efforts with the need to sustain in-service platforms to ensure availability.
In its 2 May report, the GAO said that the US Department of Defense (DoD) faced “several challenges” as it worked to rebuild and restore readiness across the military, while also seeking to modernise its forces.
Examples of this include the US Navy’s ship maintenance backlog, which had grown to $1.8bn, and aircraft maintenance and supply issues limiting the availability of ageing aircraft. Ground forces, by contrast, had seen an increase in readiness.
According to the GAO, nearly two decades of conflict had “degraded military readiness”, as the DoD worked across all domains to rebuild capabilities while also undergoing a significant programme to modernise its forces.
https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/us-military-readiness-degraded-by-two-decades-of-conflict/
