The U.S. Army's repair parts system has experienced continuing problems. Cost and transportability factors limit the amount of stocks we can keep at the unit level. Difficulties in the distribution system compound the resupply problem. Even after a multitude of studies and initiatives to improve supply performance, our Desert Shield/Desert Storm experience confirmed the reality of the continuing repair parts system shortfalls. This monograph discusses some of the inherent difficulties in the repair parts system, focused primarily on the methodology used to determine repair parts stockage at the unit level and concludes that there may in fact be no ideal solution to this problem. The monograph then suggests that using Battlefield Damage Assessment and Repair (BDAR), relying more on improvised maintenance, could serve to alleviate some of the repair parts shortfalls. This monograph discusses the U.S. Army's and foreign armies approaches to BDAR and analyzes the potential of BDAR to alleviate repair parts supply difficulties. Finally, it offers recommendations to enhance the U.S. Army's current BDAR program so as to maximize the return of combat systems capability on the future battlefield. These recommendations include an increased training focus and reorientation of our peacetime practices to build a "BDAR mentality" among operators/crews and mechanics and further incorporation of BDAR into the materiel acquisition process. The monograph also includes a proposed methodology to incorporate the BDAR concept into the repair parts stockage determination process.

ADA 262563 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)