Sustaining the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) Program

Sustaining the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) Program
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2003
Genre:
ISBN:

This report describes four broad initiatives needed for managing and employing the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) over the next decade. CRAF airlines have provided essential support to the US military since the Korean War. Today, CRAF airlines are supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, and are committing nearly double the amount of commercial aircraft required by DoD for its most demanding war plans. Over the coming decade, the Defense Department's management and employment of CRAF will need to adapt to meet a number of significant challenges. The airline industry is facing unprecedented financial losses, and will undergo significant restructuring; at the same time, developments in the global security environment, as well as the Department's aircraft purchases and transformational initiatives, will reshape their employment of the fleet. But, if DoD takes the appropriate steps, it can continue to rely on adequate support from US airlines for military operations through the remainder of this decade, and beyond.

Maintaining the Civil Reserve Air Fleet

Maintaining the Civil Reserve Air Fleet
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 25
Release: 2000
Genre:
ISBN:

Strategic airlift is vital to meeting the National Security Strategy of protecting the nation's interests throughout the globe. With a decreasing defense budget, the CRAF program is a proven method to provide DoD a relatively inexpensive way to maintain a large airlift capability. This paper investigates and analyzes the thesis that the shift in global business practices and a robust economy, combined with CRAF activation concerns, endangers the future of the CRAF program. Section One begins with a historical overview and current status of the CRAF program. Section Two analyzes two core problems (decreased financial reliance upon DoD and increased likelihood of CRAF activation) generated within the civil air carrier industry and military by recent shifts in both the economic and political environment. Section Three provides recommendations to counter these problems and improve the relationship between DoD and civil air carriers. Finally, Section Four examines areas requiring future study that may potentially prove instrumental in addressing the future of CRAF.

The Civil Reserve Air Fleet

The Civil Reserve Air Fleet
Author: U S Government Accountability Office (G
Publisher: BiblioGov
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2013-07
Genre:
ISBN: 9781289233761

The Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) program is designed to provide the Department of Defense (DOD) with commercial aircraft to augment military airlift during peacetime and wartime emergencies. CRAF is composed of civil air carriers that contract not only their aircraft but also their operating and support personnel and facilities. The program is economically feasible because it provides DOD with emergency airlift capability without buying the aircraft, paying personnel costs, or flying and maintaining aircraft during peacetime. Since its inception in 1952, CRAF has been tested numerous times in exercises designed to evaluate its responsiveness to airlift emergencies without actually activating the fleet. The most recent comprehensive exercise, Scarlet Scarf, showed that normal peacetime airlift management procedures for CRAF were adequate for management in wartime. Improvements instituted as a result of the exercise should assure continued responsiveness of the program. The Military Airlift Command has identified 220 airfields in or near North America, Europe, and the Eastern Pacific that are suitable, to some extent, for CRAF operations. Considering military and civilian assets, it appears that equipment will be available and adequate to support CRAF operations. Major CRAF modification programs are being directed toward production of wide-body passenger-type aircraft. Action is being taken to ensure the availability of NATO civil aircraft in emergencies. (RRS)