The Potential Costs Resulting from Increased Usage of Military Equipment in Ongoing Operations

Mr. Chairman, Congressman Ortiz, and Members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the potential costs resulting from increased usage of military equipment. The United States has maintained substantial military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan operating at relatively high rates since hostilities began in Iraq in March 2003. As a consequence, the services are discovering that many of the hundreds of thousands of pieces of equipment that have been used in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are in need of replacement or repair. At the request of the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Armed Services, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) attempted to determine the number and types of equipment being used by the military services at higher-than-normal levels in Iraq and Afghanistan and to estimate the potential resource implications of the resulting need to repair or replace significant portions of that equipment. On the basis of information from the services, CBO ascertained that Army and Marine Corps equipment in-theater is, in general, being used at rates that are many times greater than those typical of peacetime. In particular, trucks from those two services are being driven roughly 10 times more miles per year than has been the average over the past several years. The Army s and Marine Corps combat vehicles such as tanks and light armored vehicles are being driven at rates roughly five times those of peacetime. Finally, those two services helicopters are being flown at roughly twice peacetime rates. In contrast, the effect of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan on the Navy s and Air Force s assets is much less dramatic than on those of the Army and Marine Corps. CBO found that the greatest increase in activity could be attributed to the Navy s ships stationed in the Iraqi theater, which have been steaming roughly 40 percent more days per year as they would in peacetime.
Testimony before the Subcommittee on Readiness, Committee on Armed Services, U.S. House of Representatives.