DoD¿s management of its supply chain network is critical to supporting military forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere and also represents a substantial investment of resources. As a result of weaknesses in DoD's management of supply inventories and responsiveness to warfighter requirements, supply chain management is a high-risk fed. gov¿t. program. In July 2010, DoD issued a new Logistics Strategic Plan that represents the dept's. current vision and direction for supply chain management and other logistics areas. This testimony: (1) describes DoD's prior strategic planning efforts in the area of logistics; (2) highlights key elements in the new Logistics Strategic Plan; and (3) discusses opportunities for improvement in future iterations of this plan. Ill.

Military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have focused attention on the performance of DoD¿s supply chain management. DoD spent $178 billion on its supply chain in FY 2007. There have been many reported weaknesses in DoD's management of its supply chain. DoD released its Logistics Roadmap in July 2008 to guide, measure, and track logistics improvements. DoD has identified two technologies included in this roadmap -- item unique ident. (IUID) and passive radio frequency ident. (RFID), as having promise to address weaknesses in asset visibility. This report reviewed: the extent to which the roadmap serves as a comprehensive, integrated strategy to improve logistics; and the progress DoD has made implementing IUID and passive RFID.

The upcoming 2009 transition marks the first wartime presidential transition in 40 years. The next admin. will fill thousands of positions across gov¿t.; there will be a number of new faces in Congress as well. Making these transitions as seamlessly as possible is pivotal to effectively and efficiently help accomplish the fed. govt¿s. many essential missions. The Presidential Transition Act specifically identifies GAO as a source of briefings and other materials to help inform presidential appointees of the major mgmt. issues, risks, and challenges they will face. This testimony provides an overview of GAO¿s objectives for assisting the 111th Congress and the next admin. in their all-important transition efforts. Charts and tables.