Summary: The essential elements in preparedness involve developing workable contingency plans and maintaining required forces, material, and equipment at optimum levels of readiness. Because resources are limited, they must be used effectively and economically in developing and maintaining the desired readiness levels. Issues which GAO believes deserve the greatest emphasis during the next 1.5 years to meet congressional concerns and to help resolve major readiness problems involving those key elements are presented. These include: (1) military readiness, mobilization planning, and civil preparedness issues and concerns; (2) the adequacy of contingency planning to meet military threats and the feasibility of implementing contingency plans; (3) improvement of military readiness reporting systems to more accurately reflect capabilities and needs; (4) the achievement of required movements of personnel, equipment, and supplies in a crisis; (5) improvement of the readiness of NATO forces; (6) the meeting of mobilization needs by the industrial base; (7) survival and recovery of U.S. forces, equipment, and facilities from attempted sabotage and conventional and unconventional warfare actions; (8) the effectiveness of civil preparedness programs; and (9) the readiness and adequate support of U.S. forces and field equipment.
