Special Operations Forces: Additional Actions Are Needed to Effectively Manage Air Reserve Component
Fast Facts
The Air Force Special Operations Command has increasingly relied on Air Force reserve components to help carry out its mission. When needed, reservists of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve may volunteer for active duty or may be involuntarily mobilized. Reserve forces need more time to prepare for these duties than active-duty units.
The Command has had a difficult time coordinating with reserve force commanders and notifying reserve forces in a timely manner about what forces will be needed.
We made 3 recommendations, including actions to improve coordination between the Command and reserve components.
A military jet on a runway
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Air Force Special Operation Command's (AFSOC) mobilization process does not fully support Air Reserve Component (ARC) needs for timely and reliable information. While AFSOC has established mobilization processes in line with Air Force guidance, the command faces difficulties, as follows:
consistently providing ARC units and personnel with timely notifications regarding anticipated demand for their capabilities;
coordinating with ARC commands on potential requirements for ARC capabilities; and
sharing reliable information about mission requirements and resources with ARC units and personnel.
According to AFSOC officials, these difficulties stem from AFSOC's limited organizational capacity to conduct the planning, coordination, and execution of involuntary mobilizations (that is, ARC units or personnel ordered to active duty). Other Air Force entities that provide ARC capabilities to meet Air Force-wide requirements have established the capacity within their operations departments to coordinate with the ARC when implementing the involuntary mobilization process. AFSOC officials stated that because AFSOC did not, until recently, regularly use involuntary mobilizations to access the ARC, it was not considered necessary to have an organizational entity dedicated to managing involuntary mobilizations. AFSOC officials stated that the command's operations center has submitted requests to its headquarters for additional resources toward creating such organizational capacity, but the requests were not funded in fiscal years 2018 or 2019, as other requests received higher priority. According to officials, AFSOC is currently exploring possible short-term solutions. In the absence of the organizational capacity to conduct the planning, coordination, and execution of involuntary mobilizations, AFSOC will continue to be impeded in providing the notice required to access the ARC in support of requirements.
The ARC does not provide AFSOC with complete information regarding which of its units could be used to support AFSOC requirements for special operations activities. The Air Force uses a model that captures and organizes Air Force-wide requirements, but the model does not include special operations requirements, and AFSOC is expected to develop its own processes for its unique requirements. According to AFSOC and ARC officials, the ARC has not developed a method for capturing and organizing special operations requirements because it has historically supported special operations activities using volunteerism, which is more flexible and requires less up-front planning. Consolidated information on potential unit deployments would provide units with advanced notification, facilitating deployment preparation activities and helping personnel make arrangements with civilian employers or in their personal lives. Without a method to provide consolidated information on reserve component units available for deployment, the ARC will not have the information it needs to successfully plan its deployments, or to easily identify which of its units will be available for mobilization.
Why GAO Did This Study
Over the past decade the Air Force has increasingly relied on the ARC to meet operational requirements. The ARC is composed of two entities—the Air National Guard (ANG) and the Air Force Reserve (AFR)—which together comprise a substantial part of the total Air Force capability. AFSOC relies on either volunteerism or involuntary mobilization to activate ARC units.
House Report 115-676, accompanying a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, contains a provision for GAO to assess ANG and AFR involuntary mobilization plans to support special operations. GAO evaluated the extent to which (1) AFSOC's mobilization process provides the ARC with timely and reliable forecasts of planned utilization of units and personnel; and (2) the ARC identifies and communicates information to AFSOC on the units and individuals available for mobilization or on voluntary deployments.
Recommendations
GAO is making three recommendations, including that the Air Force should ensure that AFSOC has the organizational capacity to effectively initiate, coordinate, and execute ARC mobilizations; and should develop a method for providing AFSOC with consolidated information regarding units available for mobilizations. DOD concurred with one of these recommendations and partially concurred with two, stating that some information is being shared and a planned initiative could improve the information flow. GAO believes this initiative, if implemented, could address the intent of its recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Office of the Secretary of the Air Force | The Secretary of the Air Force, in coordination with ANG and AFR, should ensure that AFSOC has the organizational capacity to effectively initiate, coordinate, and execute ARC mobilizations, to include ensuring timely and reliable notification of requirements to those units. (Recommendation 1) |
The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with our recommendation and in its response noted that the Air Force balances manning requirements across the spectrum of operations and that fully manning Air Force Special Operations Command for this staff function would be helpful. As of March 2022, the Operations Center at Air Force Special Operations Command established an Air Reserve Component mobilization cell to provide full-time support to correctly complete mobilization requests. As of June 2022, this recommendation has closed as implemented.
|
| Office of the Secretary of the Air Force | The Secretary of the Air Force should ensure that the ANG and AFR develop a method for providing AFSOC with consolidated information regarding units available for immediate and future mobilizations to support special operations activities, such as the Air Force provides to its units with its force-generation model. (Recommendation 2) |
The Department of Defense (DOD) partially concurred with this recommendation and in its comments, stated that the Air Force Reserve currently provides Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) with information on units available, using Reserve Component Periods, and that the Air Force Reserve will assess whether reposturing in multiple Reserve Component Periods will provide a portion of capability with greater flexibility. As of March 2022, Air Force Reserve modified the availability of AFSOC units to allow single units to meet Global Force Management requirements and protect individual special operations forces' mobilization-to-dwell ratios. As of June 2022, this recommendation has been closed as implemented.
|
| Office of the Secretary of the Air Force | The Secretary of the Air Force should ensure that the ANG and AFR develop a mechanism for tracking volunteer deployments to better manage ARC force utilization. (Recommendation 3) |
The Department of Defense (DOD) partially concurred with this recommendation and in its comments stated that tracking volunteer deployments requires timely information from Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) to properly identify the requirements, establish expeditionary Air Reserve Component (ARC) units, and document the transaction when ARC members are activated. Further, it stated that in the short term, the Air Force Reserve will work with AFSOC on further developing use of the Air Force Consolidated Planning Schedule to better define requirements. Additionally, DOD noted that a planned information technology initiative could also have benefits for tracking voluntary deployments. As of March 2022, ARC developed a new process combining information from the Deliberate and Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segments (DCAPES) and the Air Force Reserve Order Writing System (AROWS-R) systems to report on ARC special operations personnel deployed by different activation authorities. As of June 2022, this recommendation has been closed as implemented.
|