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Benefits, Costs, and Challenges Associated with a 72-Month Operational Cycle

• Moving to a 72-month operational cycle would increase operational presence by about 7 percent, relative to a 32-month cycle.
• A 72-month operational cycle could lead to greater cohesion among crew members, because they would stay together longer and deploy together more often.
• Moving to a 72-month operational cycle would reduce the number of crews needed for the fleet. This could lead to manpower savings, but only if the Navy were to divest itself of these surplus crews and reduce end strength.
• A 72-month operational cycle would lead to a substantial increase in maintenance costs, relative to the 32-month cycle. In the long term, this increase would more than offset the potential savings from reduced end strength.
• It is unclear whether a 72-month cycle will help the Navy cope with several maintenance issues that have accrued over the years.

The Navy is seeking ways to operate its ships more cost-effectively. One approach might be to alter the employment schedules of Navy surface vessels to get the greatest benefit in terms of operating efficiency and crew effectiveness. The Navy is currently transitioning from a 32-month to a 36-month cycle, but adopting a 72-month operational cycle could increase the time surface vessels are deployed, allow for multiple deployments between depot availabilities, reduce the number of basic training periods, and achieve some cost savings by removing the crews during the depot maintenance period.

This report assesses a 72-month operational schedule followed by an extended depot maintenance period for one class of ships — the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke class of destroyers — to determine what cost and efficiency benefits this approach might yield. The authors find that this longer cycle would lead to a modest increase in operational availability but also to an increase in maintenance costs, and that it would require the Navy to better address ongoing maintenance issues that have accrued over the years.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  DDG-51 Fleet and Employment Scheduling

• Chapter Three

  Addressing Maintenance Demands in the 72-Month Cycle

• Chapter Four

  DDG-51 Manpower and Training

• Chapter Five

  Effect of a Longer Operational Cycle on Personnel Tempo and Operating Tempo

• Chapter Six

  Scheduling Model and Its Outputs

• Chapter Seven

  Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations

• Appendix A

  Individuals Interviewed for This Report

• Appendix B

  Background of Surface Combatant Maintenance