U.S. Army and Marine Corps Equipment Requirements: Background and Issues for Congress

Publication Date: June 2007

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Military and defense

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Abstract:

The United States Army and Marine Corps have been at war -- first in Afghanistan and then Iraq -- since November 2001. According to the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Peter Schoomaker, "for the last five years, a period longer than World War II, the Army has had as many as 18 to 20 brigade combat teams deployed on a rotational basis in combat conditions." 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" has taken a heavy toll on the Army's and Marine's equipment, which, in some cases,was more than 20 years old when the conflicts first began.

At the same time that the Army and Marine Corps are contending with warrelated equipment issues, the Army is reconfiguring its forces to a brigade-based force which could result in requirements for additional equipment. Moreover, both services have undertaken modernization programs which could generate additional equipment requirements. 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. In addition, the transfer of large quantities of U.S. military equipment to Iraqi defense forces and possibly Afghan forces could also be an element of the overall equipment requirements.