The following risks have been formally accepted by the organization and are documented here for command visibility.
Closing the Riverside facility while its replacement, the WMA New Virtual Broadcast Facility, is still under construction.
The timeline was aggressive from the outset. Cost savings were never identified before shutdown planning or activities began. The decision was driven by enthusiasm to close, not by a worked plan covering how the replacement functions or what it costs.
A lifecycle replacement for critical live local radio production and live-assist systems that has been troubled from the start.
The project reflects an engineering failure and is three years overdue. Equipment has been sitting in boxes; some is already approaching its own lifecycle end before installation. There is no installation plan. The system will not pass RMF scrutiny or meet cybersecurity requirements as currently built. The equipment being replaced is long past end of life. Risk spans project management, RMF compliance, and engineering. Mission failure is a credible outcome.
Loss of senior leadership and technical depth at the AFN Broadcast Center through the "Fork in the Road" program. Vacated positions include the Director, Chief Engineer, and Resource Manager.
Three of the roles most critical to running operations, sustaining engineering, and managing resources departed simultaneously, during a period when every other accepted risk on this register depends on exactly that expertise to mitigate.
The majority of the DTH contract was shut off in March 2026. A partial extension was forced to preserve AFN radio signals reaching outlying transmitters and live local radio for several communities.
The IP-based replacement is not yet in place. DISA is involved and the solution is taking time. Communities dependent on live local radio remain at risk until the replacement is operational.
Approximately $8M per year in satellite service was sacrificed under OSW comptroller cuts. AFN was encouraged to continue the service on Navy funding that has not been confirmed.
The period of performance runs October to October. Continuation requires FY27 O&M funds that may not arrive in time to execute. Likely outcome is incremental funding with no guarantee of full Navy support. The organization is over-extending on good faith.