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National Defense

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Open Recommendations

National Nuclear Security Administration: Agency Should Improve Cost Growth Notification Process
GAO-25-107767
Sep 30, 2025
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
National Nuclear Security Administration The Administrator of NNSA should direct CEPE to establish a deadline and finalize its efforts to establish templates and implement a process for reporting timely cost growth notifications. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
National Nuclear Security Administration The Administrator of NNSA should direct CEPE to establish a deadline and finalize its efforts to establish guidance on performing a root cause analysis that also traces to the required elements under the cost growth notification provision. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
National Nuclear Security Administration The Secretary of Energy, in coordination with the Administrator of NNSA, should communicate to the relevant congressional committees suggested changes to the cost growth notification provision. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Weapon System Sustainment: DOD Can Improve Planning and Management of Data Rights [Reissued with revisions on Sep. 29, 2025]
GAO-25-107468
Sep 29, 2025
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Congress Congress should consider clarifying how DOD and contractors should treat detailed manufacturing or process data that is necessary for OMIT purposes. (Matter for Consideration 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD A&S) should ensure the Director of the IP Cadre updates the IP guidebook or produces guidance to address the courses of action available to programs in sustainment to obtain IP and data rights. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense OUSD A&S should ensure the Director of the IP Cadre formally assesses available tools to assist programs with the review of data deliverables, in coordination with officials responsible for the tools' development. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense OUSD A&S should ensure the Director of the IP Cadre establishes a process to collect and distribute IP and data rights lessons learned from programs in sustainment. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Military Personnel: More Guidance Could Help Address Service Member Gambling Problems
GAO-25-107700
Sep 22, 2025
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9 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Director of the Defense Health Agency (DHA) establishes a time frame for issuing the implementation guidance for DOD Instruction 1010.04 that defines all roles and responsibilities for gambling disorder prevention, identification, diagnosis, and treatment that are not explicitly assigned. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should establish a time frame to review and update guidance as needed to implement requirements for gambling disorder prevention and identification outlined in DOD Instruction 1010.04, once DHA's implementation guidance is issued. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy should establish a time frame to review and update guidance as needed for the Navy and Marine Corps to implement requirements for gambling disorder prevention and identification outlined in DOD Instruction 1010.04, once DHA's implementation guidance is issued. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Air Force The Secretary of the Air Force should establish a time frame to review and update guidance as needed to implement requirements for gambling disorder prevention and identification as outlined in DOD Instruction 1010.04, once DHA's implementation guidance is issued. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness includes in the next revision of DOD Instruction 1015.10 a requirement for the military services to have consistent responsible gaming guidance for their recreational machine programs. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should update the Army's MWR guidance to be consistent with and implement DOD's revision to DOD Instruction 1015.10, once completed, for responsible gaming. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Nuclear Enterprise: Clearer Guidance Could Improve Joint Professional Military Education Nuclear Deterrence Curriculum
GAO-25-107416
Sep 18, 2025
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff updates the guidance on enduring and periodic special areas of emphasis to explicitly define nuclear deterrence to aid all intermediate- and senior-level JPME programs' development of JPME curricula with nuclear deterrence content. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. DOD concurred that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff should update the JPME guidance for enduring special areas of emphasis to define nuclear deterrence. However, DOD did not concur with the aspect of this recommendation related to updating the JPME guidance for periodic special areas of emphasis, noting that periodic special areas of emphasis are subject to a 2-year time-frame restriction. We continue to believe that the recommendation to update the JPME guidance for periodic special areas of emphasis is valid, because this will allow JPME programs to more effectively develop curricula to meet requirements if additional nuclear deterrence-related periodic special areas of emphasis are identified in the future. We will monitor DOD's efforts to fully address this recommendation.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff updates the guidance on enduring and periodic special areas of emphasis to require all intermediate- and senior-level JPME programs to incorporate the definition of nuclear deterrence into relevant JPME curricula. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. DOD concurred that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff should require all intermediate- and senior-level JPME programs to incorporate the definition of nuclear deterrence into relevant JPME curricula for enduring special areas of emphasis. However, DOD did not concur with the aspect of this recommendation related to updating the JPME guidance for periodic special areas of emphasis, noting that periodic special areas of emphasis are subject to a 2-year time-frame restriction. We continue to believe that the recommendation to update the JPME guidance to incorporate the definition of nuclear deterrence for periodic special areas of emphasis is valid, because this will allow JPME programs to more effectively develop curricula to meet requirements if additional nuclear deterrence-related periodic special areas of emphasis are identified in the future. We will monitor DOD's efforts to fully address this recommendation.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sets a specific time frame for implementation—including for conditional and full certification—of the outcomes-based military education system by all intermediate- and senior-level JPME programs. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. DOD concurred that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff should set a specific time frame for implementation of the outcomes-based military education system. However, DOD did not concur with the aspect of the recommendation related to a connection between setting a specific implementation time frame for the certification of JPME programs and nuclear deterrence learning outcomes. We recognize that DOD is taking actions to update JPME guidance to set a time frame for certification of all intermediate- and senior-level JPME programs, and when we confirm what actions DOD has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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