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To: chowder who wrote (85160)	1/23/2001 7:11:16 PM
From: isopatch	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

OT/Dabum. More is surfacing about status of our military readiness: From Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough 1/19 regular web feature, Insider the Ring. "Air Force doldrums The Air Force has told the Bush-Cheney transition team it still suffers deep readiness problems first disclosed publicly more than two years ago. In a transition update book dated Jan. 10, the Air Force said squadrons still lack sufficient spare parts and see a downward trend in mission capable rates. Some highlights: Major combat units in top two readiness categories are down 24 percentage points since 1996 to 67 percent. Air Combat Command, which oversees fighter and bomber wings, is experiencing an overall readiness decline of 39 percentage points since 1996, 86 percent to 47 percent. Overall aircraft mission capable rate is down 10.7 percent since 1991. The "not mission capable maintenance" rate is up 4.8 percent since 1991, largely due to manpower shortages and frequent deployments. The total "not mission capable supply" rate increased 5.9 percent, mostly due to spare parts shortfalls. In addition to these problems, the Air Force continues to operate with a significant pilot shortage. Of 13,400 pilot slots, 1,200 are vacant and a "significant shortfall" is projected over the next five years, the service says."