Military Personnel: DOD Needs to Conduct a Data-Driven Analysis of Active Military Personnel Levels Required to Implement the Defense Strategy
Highlights
Congress recently increased active military personnel levels for the Army and the Marine Corps. The Secretary of Defense has undertaken initiatives to use military personnel more efficiently such as rebalancing high-demand skills between active and reserve components. In view of concerns about active personnel, GAO reviewed the ways in which the Department of Defense (DOD) determines personnel requirements and is managing initiatives to assign a greater proportion of active personnel to warfigthing duties. GAO assessed the extent to which the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) (1) has conducted a data-based analysis of active military personnel needed to implement the national defense strategy and (2) has a plan for making more efficient use of active military personnel and evaluating the plan's results.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | To facilitate DOD's and congressional decision making on active military personnel levels and to help DOD achieve its goals for assigning a greater proportion of active military personnel to positions in the operating force, the Secretary of Defense should conduct a review of active military personnel requirements as part of the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review. This review should include a detailed analysis of how the services currently allocate active military forces to key missions required by the defense strategy and should examine the need for changes in overall personnel levels and in the allocation of personnel in response to new missions and changes in the defense strategy. The Secretary of Defense should summarize and include in its Quadrennial Defense Review report to Congress DOD's conclusions about appropriate personnel levels for each of the services and describe the key assumptions guiding DOD's analysis, the methodology used to evaluate requirements, and how the risks associated with various alternative personnel force levels were evaluated. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD implemented the recommendation in the Quadrennial Defense Review issued Feb. 2006.
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| Department of Defense | To facilitate DOD's and congressional decision making on active military personnel levels and to help DOD achieve its goals for assigning a greater proportion of active military personnel to positions in the operating force, the Secretary of Defense should develop a detailed plan to manage implementation of DOD's initiatives to use the force more efficiently. Such a plan should establish implementation objectives and time frames, assign responsibility, identify resources, and develop performance measures to enable DOD to evaluate the results of the initiatives in allocating a greater proportion of the active force to warfighting positions. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD implemented a tracking system to manage the progress of initiatives to rebalance its military and civilian workforce.
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