GAO-12-191R Military Training
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
March 16, 2012
Congressional Committees
Subject: Military Training: Observations on the Army's Implementation of a
Metric for Measuring Ground Force Training
In 2008, the Army issued a field manual that identified the need to expand its training
focus so units would be trained and ready to operate across a full spectrum of
operations including offensive, defensive, stability, and civil support operations.
1
To
support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, for the last several years, the Army has
focused its ground force training on preparing units for counterinsurgency operations.
With the withdrawal from operations in Iraq, fewer units are engaged in
counterinsurgency operations and now have more time to train for full spectrum
operations.
To reflect the shift in training focus, the Army, in April 2011, updated its training
strategy and also established a new metric to measure training activity—referred to as
the full spectrum training mile metric. This metric replaced the Army’s traditional tank
mile metric, which represented the average number of miles the Army expected to drive
its tanks while conducting training. In its fiscal year 2012 budget materials, the Army
provided background information on its transition to the new metric, and, starting in
fiscal year 2012, began using the new metric.
House report 112-78
2
directed GAO to review the Army’s transition to the full spectrum
training mile metric and report its findings by February 28, 2012. To address this
mandate, we determined (1) how the Army's full spectrum training mile metric differs
from its traditional tank mile metric; (2) the key assumptions associated with the full
spectrum training mile metric and to what extent these assumptions reflect actual
conditions; and (3) to what extent the Army uses the full spectrum training mile metric
to measure training execution and develop training cost estimates and related funding
needs. Additionally, for background purposes, this report includes information on how
training is reflected in the Army’s operation and maintenance budget-justification
materials.
We briefed the congressional defense committees in January 2012 and have included
the briefing in enclosure 1 of this report.
1
Army Field Manual 7-0, Training for Full Spectrum Operations (Dec. 2008).
2
H.R. Rep. No. 112-78, which accompanied a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for 2012,
Pub. L. No. 112-81 (2011).
