	Background

The United States Army and Marine Corps have been at war—first in Afghanistan and, then Iraq—since November 2001. In a similar manner, the Marine Corps has deployed its forces and equipment in what has been described as "the harsh operating environments of Iraq and Afghanistan" where the heat, sand, and dust as well as operational rates "well in excess of peacetime rates" have taken a heavy toll on the service's equipment, which, in some cases, was more than 20 years old when the conflicts first began. Equipping Reserve and National Guard units also presents challenges to the services. The Army and Marine Corps are also undertaking efforts to re-equip their pre-positioned stocks which were drawn upon to provide equipment for use in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Army and Marines have a number of equipment-related challenges to rectify which may require significant funding and management efforts. In terms of equipping forces, there are a number of options available. Both the Army and Marines are involved in efforts to improve the current Interceptor body armor systems used in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army has reportedly pledged to spend $21 billion over the next four years to re-equip the National Guard, but some are concerned that this equipment will instead be deployed to Iraq to support the "Surge" instead of being used to re-equip depleted National Guard units at home as they prepare to support domestic missions and train for overseas deployments. Given these concerns, Congress might decide to examine DOD's and the Army's plans to re-equip National Guard units. How Many MRAPs Does DOD Intend to Procure? Allegations that the successor of the Army's M-16/M-4 carbine, the Heckler & Koch's XM-8 assault rifle, was cancelled due to bureaucratic conflicts among Army and DOD acquisition officials might be an issue for congressional examination.
The United States Army and Marine Corps have been at war—first in Afghanistan and then Iraq—since November 2001. The Army's and Marine Corps' equipment has been employed in what has been described as "the harsh operating environments of Iraq and Afghanistan" where the heat, sand, and dust as well as operational rates "well in excess of peacetime rates" have taken a heavy toll on the Army's and Marines' equipment.
Re-equipping Reserve and National Guard units that, in many cases, were under-equipped to start with and then required to leave their equipment in theater also presents challenges to the Services. The Army and Marine Corps are also undertaking efforts to re-equip their pre-positioned stocks which were drawn upon to provide equipment for use in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are also concerns that the Army and Marines have not always aggressively pursued the best force protection equipment available and the Army has been questioned on its efforts to improve the standard soldier assault rifle. Congress, in its appropriation, authorization, and oversight roles may be faced with some of the following issues:
What are the Department of Defense's (DOD's) and the Service's plans to re-equip reserve forces so that they are sufficiently resourced for domestic missions and to properly train for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan? What is the current state of pre-positioned stocks that have been drawn down again to support the Iraq "surge"? What type of equipment is being used to restock pre-positioned stocks and is this equipment fully operational or in a lesser state of readiness? How Many MRAPs does DOD intend to procure? Have bureaucratic difficulties attributed to the Army and DOD had an adverse impact on efforts to find a suitable replacement for the Army's M-16/M-4 series of assault rifles?
This report will be updated on a periodic basis.