Supporting Air and Space Expeditionary Forces

RAND was asked by the U.S. Air Force to carry out analyses needed to determine alternatives for the use of CONUS Centralized Intermediate Repair Facilities (CIRFs) that would provide increased maintenance efficiency (compared with traditional, decentralized structures) without reducing combat support capability. These CIRFs would provide off-equipment repair of propulsion and avionics components for the F-15, F-16, and A/OA-10. RAND developed an optimization-based analytic method for CIRF network design that identifies a range of cost-effective alternatives. Aircraft force structure bed-downs resulting from the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) recommendations were used in the analyses, and all CONUS active duty bases and Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command installations were included, considering support to three tasking scenarios — normal peacetime training and readiness, Air and Space Expeditionary Force (AEF) deployment, and major regional conflicts (MRCs). General results from the analyses are: CONUS CIRF is a cost-effective maintenance strategy for nearly all commodities analyzed; potential manpower cost savings more than offset increased transport costs; CONUS CIRF total pipeline requirements generally are not excessive; many network designs are virtually equivalent in cost and performance; and large user bases are naturally attractive CONUS CIRF locations. The monograph also provides commodity-specific results and recommendations.