Publicly Released: June 30, 2022
We are providing this management advisory for information and use. This advisory provides DoD officials the results of our evaluation concerning the activation and use of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) to support noncombatant evacuation operations (NEO) of Afghan refugees under Operation Allies Refuge. U.S. Transportation Command leaders and other key agency officials proactively sought volunteers from commercial air carriers in the initial phases of the Afghanistan NEO, informed and updated air carrier officials, activated the required number of aircraft within time standards, and followed required procedures and operations during CRAF activation and deactivation.
This advisory contains no recommendations for action. However, we identify two best practices and we highlight two areas for potential improvement in future NEOs. We conducted this evaluation from November 2021 through May 2022 in accordance with the “Quality Standards for Inspections and Evaluations,” published in January 2012 by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.