The Issue
Modernized High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) have an immediate, positive impact on readiness in Army National Guard units. However, a significant shortfall remains, with more than half of National Guard HMMWVs currently beyond their expected useful lives.
Recommendation
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2020, appropriate at least $100 million for the Army National Guard HMMWV modernization program.
Importance
- HMMWV modernization is the #1 priority of the NGAUS Army Sustainment Task Force.
- HMMWV modernization has consistently been a top National Guard equipment modernization funding priority for the past seven years.
- HMMWV modernization has been identified by the Director of the Army National Guard as a top Army Guard equipment modernization priority.
Background
The Army National Guard has over 43,000 HMMWVs in its inventory, and more than half of those HMMWVs are beyond their useful life. The severe aging of the HMMWV fleet is problematic because the Army plans to retain the HMMWV as a key dual use piece of equipment for the Army National Guard through 2045. In April 2018, General John M. Murray, then the Army Deputy Chief of Staff (G-8) and now the Commander of Army Futures Command, testified before Congress that HMMWVs will comprise 50% of the Army’s light tactical vehicle fleet and “will be with us for a long time into the future.” Since the HMMWV will be in Guard formations for another 25 years at least, NGAUS seeks prioritized funding for the sustainment and modernization of the Guard HMMWV fleet to ensure a capable National Guard ready at a moment’s notice to provide emergency support at home and to deploy for combat missions around the world.
Older, less capable HMMWV models have limited payload, less efficient powertrains, much less electrical load capability, and lack the ability to be up-armored, limiting the range of military, homeland security, and state emergency missions they can perform. On the other hand, modernized HMMWVs are more cost-effective and reliable and enhance the ability of the Guard troops they carry to aid their fellow citizens in response to an emergency.
In FY13, Congress established a multi-year program to modernize the rapidly aging National Guard HMMWV fleet. Since its inception, over 3,500 HMMWVs have been modernized, and many more vehicles are ready to be modernized as soon as funding becomes available. The process returns like-new vehicles to zero hours and zero miles and enables the Guard to successfully meet the dual mission of protecting the homeland and training for future missions around the globe.
These modernized vehicles have had an immediate, positive impact on readiness in Guard units across the country, but a significant shortfall remains to be addressed. Therefore, additional funding in FY20 is critical to ensuring this important modernization program can continue.