Defense Critical Infrastructure: Adherence to Guidance Would Improve DOD's Approach to Identifying and Assuring the Availability of Critical Transportation Assets
GAO-08-851
Published: Aug 15, 2008. Publicly Released: Aug 15, 2008.
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Highlights
The Department of Defense (DOD) established the Defense Critical Infrastructure Program (DCIP) to assure the availability of mission-critical infrastructure, including surface, sea, and air transportation assets to carry out its missions. GAO was asked to evaluate (1) the extent to which the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) has identified, prioritized, and assessed critical transportation assets; (2) the extent to which DOD installation personnel have taken actions to help assure the availability of critical transportation assets, both within and independent of DCIP; and (3) how DOD is funding critical transportation asset assurance. GAO examined a nonprojectable sample of 22 critical transportation assets, reviewed relevant DOD guidance and documents, and interviewed cognizant officials.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | To help assure the availability of critical assets in the Transportation Defense Sector and to enable decision makers within DOD to more effectively prioritize and target limited resources to reduce critical asset vulnerabilities and allow ASD(HD&ASA) to formulate a complete and accurate list of Defense Critical Assets, the Secretary of Defense, should, through ASD(HD&ASA) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, direct the Commander of TRANSCOM to fully implement the criteria, methodology, and process in the draft DOD Critical Asset Identification Process manual to reevaluate and update the identification of all critical transportation assets, and develop a timeline for doing so. |
Closed – Implemented
In a memorandum dated December 17, 2010, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs (ASD[HD&ASA])--the office responsible for DCIP--noted that that all of TRANSCOM's critical assets were identified using the DOD Critical Asset Identification Process. As a result, TRANSCOM will be able to identify which specific transportation assets are critical.
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| Department of Defense | To help assure the availability of critical assets in the Transportation Defense Sector and to enable decision makers within DOD to more effectively prioritize and target limited resources to reduce critical asset vulnerabilities and allow ASD(HD&ASA) to formulate a complete and accurate list of Defense Critical Assets, the Secretary of Defense, should, through ASD(HD&ASA) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, direct the Commander of TRANSCOM to discontinue the use of Transportation Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessments as its primary tool for identifying its critical assets. |
Closed – Implemented
We recommended that U.S. Transportation Command stop using its Transportation Integrated Vulnerability Assessments to identify critical infrastructure. The Department concurred with our recommendation and provided documentation that these vulnerability assessments have been discontinued altogether as part of a larger, DOD-wide effort to reduce the number of vulnerability assessments.
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| Department of Defense | To help assure the availability of critical assets in the Transportation Defense Sector and to enable decision makers within DOD to more effectively prioritize and target limited resources to reduce critical asset vulnerabilities and allow ASD(HD&ASA) to formulate a complete and accurate list of Defense Critical Assets, the Secretary of Defense, should, through ASD(HD&ASA) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, direct the Commander of TRANSCOM to finalize its memorandum of understanding with the Joint Staff to enable TRANSCOM transportation subject matter experts to participate in the DCIP module of a Joint Staff vulnerability assessment. |
Closed – Implemented
We recommended the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) officials finalize a memorandum with the Joint Staff to define TRANSCOM's roles and responsibilities for transportation subject matter experts to augment the Joint Staff's vulnerability assessments for critical assets. DOD provided us with the memorandum that outlined TRANSCOM assessors roles and responsibilities.
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| Department of Defense | To facilitate DCIP implementation at the installation level, the Secretary of Defense should direct the secretaries of the military departments to develop and implement service-specific guidance based on published DOD DCIP guidance. |
Closed – Implemented
We recommended that the Military Departments issue service-specific guidance to implement the Defense Critical Infrastructure Program because installations we visited were unfamiliar with the program and how to implement it. DOD officials have since provided us with the officially released guidance per each military service on the implementation of the program.
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Topics
Agency missionsAir transportationAssetsCost analysisCritical infrastructureDefense capabilitiesDefense contingency planningDefense cost controlDefense operationsDefense procurementHomeland securityMilitary facilitiesMilitary forcesProgram evaluationProgram managementRisk assessmentRisk managementStrategic planningTerrorismTransportationCost estimatesProgram costsProgram goals or objectivesProgram implementation