An analysis of the relationship between operations and maintenance support to manpower and military manpower levels

Abstract

The Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Appropriations of the military services provide resources for a wide variety of programs, including manpower support programs. It is assumed that some relationship exists between changes in manpower levels and O&M tunding, often referred to as the O&M support "tail"This research examined the O&M, Navy and O&M, Marine Corps appropriations to identify programs which provide funding that surports the general active duty population of the Navy and Marine Corps. A framework to be used in calculating the O&M support "tail" that accompanies manpower adjustments was developed. It was determined that the O&M support "tail" was small and specific to certain manpower support programs. Many O&M manpower support costs will not change until force structure and infrastructure changes take place. It is concluded that O&M adjustments based on changes to manpower should be targeted only at specific programs whose costs vary with the manpower level. Otherwise, O&M reductions are essentially horizontal adjustments which have the potential to either under or overfund other O&M programs.