STUDY ON FUTURE DEPOT CAPABILITY.

SEC. 322. STUDY ON FUTURE DEPOT CAPABILITY.(a) Study Required.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall enter into a contract with an independent research entity that is a not-for-profit entity or a federally-funded research and development center with appropriate expertise in logistics and logistics analytical capability to carry out a study on the capability and efficiency of the depots of the Department of Defense to provide the logistics capabilities and capacity necessary for national defense.(b) Contents of Study.—The study carried out under subsection (a) shall—(1) be a quantitative analysis of the post-reset Department of Defense depot capability required to provide life cycle sustainment of military legacy systems and new systems and military equipment;(2) take into consideration direct input from the Secretary of Defense and the logistics and acquisition leadership of the military departments, including materiel support and depot commanders;(3) take into consideration input from regular and reserve components of the Armed Forces, both with respect to requirements for sustainment-level maintenance and the capability and capacity to perform depot-level maintenance and repair;(4) identify and address each type of activity carried out at depots, installation directorates of logistics, regional sustainment-level maintenance sites, reserve component maintenance capability sites, theater equipment support centers, and Army field support brigade capabilities;(5) examine relevant guidance provided and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of each of the military departments, including with respect to programming and budgeting and the annual budget displays provided to Congress; and(6) examine any relevant applicable laws, including the relevant body of work performed by the Government Accountability Office.(c) Issues to Be Addressed.—The study required under subsection (a) shall address each of the following issues with respect to depots and depot capabilities:(1) The life cycle sustainment maintenance strategies and implementation plans of the Department of Defense and the military departments that cover—(A) the role of each type of maintenance activity;(B) business operations;(C) workload projection;(D) outcome-based performance management objectives;(E) the adequacy of information technology systems, including workload management systems;(F) the workforce, including skills required and development;(G) budget and fiscal planning policies; and(H) capital investment strategies, including the implementation of section 2476 of title 10, United States Code.(2) Current and future maintenance environments, including—122 STAT. 4414(A) performance-based logistics;(B) supply chain management;(C) condition-based maintenance;(D) reliability-based maintenance;(E) consolidation and centralization, including—(i) regionalization;(ii) two-level maintenance; and(iii) forward-based depot capacity;(F) public-private partnerships;(G) private-sector depot capability and capacity; and(H) the impact of proprietary technical documentation.(3) The adequate visibility of the maintenance workload of each military department in reports submitted to Congress, including—(A) whether the depot budget lines in current budget displays accurately reflect depot level workloads;(B) the accuracy of core and 50/50 calculations;(C) the usefulness of current reporting requirements to the oversight function of senior military and congressional leaders; and(D) whether current budgetary guidelines provide sufficient financial flexibility during the year of execution to permit the heads of the military departments to make best-value decisions between maintenance activities.(4) Such other information as determined relevant by the entity carrying out the study.(d) Availability of Information.—The Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of each of the military departments shall make available to the entity carrying out the study under subsection (a) all necessary and relevant information to allow the entity to conduct the study in a quantitative and analytical manner.(e) Reports to Committees on Armed Services.—(1) Interim report.—The contract that the Secretary enters into under subsection (a) shall provide that not later than one year after the commencement of the study conducted under this section, the chief executive officer of the entity that carries out the study pursuant to the contract shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives an interim report on the study.(2) Final report.—Such contract shall provide that not later than 22 months after the date on which the Secretary of Defense enters into the contract under subsection (a), the chief executive officer of the entity that carries out the study pursuant to the contract shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a final report on the study. The report shall include each of the following:(A) A description of the depot maintenance environment, as of the date of the conclusion of the study, and the anticipated future environment, together with the quantitative data used in conducting the assessment of such environments under the study.(B) Recommendations with respect to what would be required to maintain, in a post-reset environment, an efficient and enduring Department of Defense depot capability necessary for national defense.122 STAT. 4415(C) Recommendations with respect to any changes to any applicable law that would be appropriate for a post-reset depot maintenance environment.(D) Recommendations with respect to the methodology of the Department of Defense for determining core logistics requirements, including an assessment of risk.(E) Proposed business rules that would provide incentives for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of the military departments to keep Department of Defense depots efficient and cost effective, including the workload level required for efficiency.(F) A proposed strategy for enabling, requiring, and monitoring the ability of the Department of Defense depots to produce performance-driven outcomes and meet materiel readiness goals with respect to availability, reliability, total ownership cost, and repair cycle time.(G) Comments provided by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of the military departments on the findings and recommendations of the study.(f) Comptroller General Review.—Not later than 90 days after the date on which the report under subsection (e)(2) is submitted, the Comptroller General shall review the report and submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives an assessment of the feasibility of the recommendations and whether the findings are supported by the data and information examined.(g) Definitions.—In this section:(1) The term “depot-level maintenance and repair” has the meaning given that term under section 2460 of title 10, United States Code.(2) The term “reset” means actions taken to repair, enhance, or replace military equipment used in support of operations underway as of the date of the enactment of this Act and associated sustainment.(3) The term “military equipment” includes all weapon systems, weapon platforms, vehicles and munitions of the Department of Defense, and the components of such items.