Ordered by the Senate to review the Pentagon’s work on the Mobility Capabilities Study, now expected out sometime this fall, the GAO offers some “preliminary observations,” mainly that the Congressional auditors were “unable to assess the adequacy” of the DOD process to validate legacy models used to gauge how best to meet future transportation requirements. The Pentagon, says GAO, did not use current independent validation and verification processes, instead its analysts used an “equivalent” process with “little documentation” describing that process. In its response to the report, DOD basically agreed with the GAO, noting, though, that “two decades of mobility studies have been conducted using many of the legacy models” with no questions as to their credibility. Is that an endorsement of past studies? Does that mean the new MCS will reiterate the lsst study’s conclusion—the Pentagon needs more airlift? Read our report on the air mobility situation here.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.