Depot-Level Maintenance and Repair Workload.

Depot-level maintenance and repair entails repair, rebuilding, and major overhaul of weapon systems e.g., ships, tanks, and aircraft, parts, assemblies, and subassemblies. It also includes limited manufacture of parts, technical support, modifications, testing, and redamation as well as software maintenance. Depot maintenance is currently accomplished by some 89,000 Federal Government employees ranging from highly trained technicians and skilled artisans to engineers and top-level managers. The Military Services currently operate 30 major depot maintenance facilities some of which are in the process of being dosed as DoD maintenance depots. Additionally, the Department uses in excess of 1,300 U.S. and foreign commercial firms to support its depot maintenance requirements. Depot maintenance of DoD weapon systems and equipment is a 1314 billion a year business. DoD policy governing depot maintenance operations is predicated on providing flexible, timely and cost-effective depot maintenance support, as well as retaining military control over certain essential capabilities. This policy is necessarily shaped by Departmental requirements for readiness, sustamability and support by evolving national military strategy requirements and by external considerations such as legislative mandates. A separate report outlining the Departments integrated policies for depot maintenance management has been concurrently provided to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on National Security of the House of Representatives.