SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DEPOT MAINTENANCE.

SEC. 324. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DEPOT MAINTENANCE.(a) Findings.—Congress finds the following:(1) The Depot Maintenance Strategy and Master Plan of the Air Force reflects the essential requirements for the Air Force to maintain a ready and controlled source of organic technical competence, thereby ensuring an effective and timely response to national defense contingencies and emergency requirements.(2) Since the publication of the Depot Maintenance Strategy and Master Plan of the Air Force in 2002, the Air Force has made great progress toward modernizing all three of its depots, in order to maintain the status of those depots as “world class” maintenance repair and overhaul operations.(3) One of the central components of the Depot Maintenance Strategy and Master Plan of the Air Force is the commitment of the Air Force to allocate $150,000,000 each fiscal year for six years, beginning in fiscal year 2004, for recapitalization and investment, including the procurement of technologically advanced facilities and equipment, of the Nation’s three Air Force depots.(4) The funds expended to date have ensured that transformation projects, such as the initial implementation of “Lean” and “Six Sigma” production techniques, have achieved great success in reducing the time necessary to perform depot maintenance on aircraft.(b) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that—(1) the Air Force should be commended for the implementation of its Depot Maintenance Strategy and Master Plan and, in particular, meeting the capital investment strategy pursuant to the Plan; and(2) the Air Force should remain committed to the depot maintenance process improvement initiatives and the investments and recapitalization projects pursuant to the Depot Maintenance Strategy and Master Plan.119 STAT. 3195