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Open Recommendations (783 total)

Foreign Military Sales: Financial Oversight of the Use of Overhead Funds Needs Strengthening

GAO-18-553
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Director of DSCA works with DFAS to conduct regular reconciliations of the data that DSCA collects on DOD components' use of CAS funds, to help ensure that the data are reliable. (Recommendation 10)
Open
In May 2019, DSCA noted that it is undertaking an initiative to incorporate reconciliation capabilities into its oversight of components' use of FMS CAS funds. As of July 2023, DSCA informed us that efforts to implement this recommendation are ongoing. As of October 2023, we continue to monitor DOD's actions to implement this recommendation

Warfighter Support: Actions Needed to Improve Explosive Ordnance Disposal Forces Planning

GAO-19-698
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of the Air Force should update Air Force manpower guidance, or other guidance as appropriate, to ensure that all missions conducted by EOD forces, including DSCA missions, are considered in determining the required number of EOD forces. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Department of the Air Force had neither concurred nor non-concurred with this recommendation at the time this report was published. In September 2019, GAO published this report and recommendation after DOD informed GAO that there would be no agency comment forthcoming. DOD's Washington Headquarters Service (WHS) confirmed on 14 July 2020 that they were continuing to pursue resolution and were seeking a new Department point of contact. On 10 February 2021, DOD WHS again confirmed that they were continuing to pursue resolution but had no new information. As of November 2021, DOD (via WHS) communicated that the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy would first complete the ongoing federally funded research and development center study on the EOD program and then formally respond to GAO's recommendations. In August 2022, DOD (via WHS) provided a written response stating that the federally funded research and development center study agreed with this recommendation. However, DOD further stated that "sufficient guidance exists among the Military Departments to ensure that all missions conducted by EOD forces are considered in determining the required number of EOD forces." As of August 2022, DOD plans no additional action and considers the recommendation closed. GAO continues to believe that by updating appropriate Air Force guidance to ensure that the Air Force considers the total EOD force required to support combat-related and DSCA missions, decision makers would be better able to accurately assess the sufficiency of EOD forces to meet both missions and the associated risks. DOD's position on this recommendation changed to non concur as of May 2023. We reached out to DOD in June 2023 and again in August 2023 to request an update on the status of this recommendation, but as of November 2023 we have not heard back from DOD. We will keep this recommendation open and continue to monitor whether the Air Force takes relevant implementation actions.

Defense Health Care: DOD Should Demonstrate How Its Plan to Transfer the Administration of Military Treatment Facilities Will Improve Efficiency

GAO-19-53
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, in coordination with DHA Assistant Director for Health Care Administration and the Secretaries of the military departments, conduct a comprehensive review to identify the least costly mix--per DOD guidance--of military, civilian, and contractors needed to meet validated requirements--that is, to perform the functions identified at the DHA headquarters and intermediate management organizations and at the military departments' headquarters and intermediate commands. Additionally, this comprehensive review should be completed before transferring authority, direction, and control of the MTFs to the DHA for the third phase. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. In December 2019, DOD officials stated that through the review of the budget development process, DOD transferred 1,900 personnel to the military departments for the management of their respective readiness missions. Further, DOD officials mentioned a 2018 report concerning a review of DHA personnel requirements. As reported in GAO-19-53, the report on DHA personnel requirements was specific to DHA and did not include information regarding the military departments' headquarters and intermediate commands. Further information is needed to determine whether DOD's efforts included a comprehensive review that considers the least costly mix--per DOD guidance--of military, civilian, and contractor personnel. In their March 2021 responses, DOD officials again made reference to the 2018 review of DHA personnel requirements. Officials also stated that the military departments were still conducting analysis concerning personnel reductions. Since this analysis is still ongoing-we will continue to monitor DOD's efforts. In December 2021, DOD was still working to implement this requirement. Specifically, officials stated that they anticipate that DOD will complete the comprehensive review concerning the optimal mix of civilian and contractors by June 2023. As of February 2022, DOD officials confirmed that the information provided in December 2021 was still consistent. In January 2023, DOD officials said that the validation of requirements depended on the zero based review completed in September 2022. Officials also stated that a comprehensive review would be completed after the Military Health System transformation. DOD officials anticipate a validation of requirements to occur in June 2023. To implement this recommendation, DOD needs to conduct a comprehensive review that considers the least costly mix of personnel. As of January 2024, DOD was still working to implement this recommendation. According to officials, the DOD estimated completion data of a comprehensive review to identify the least costly mix of military, civilian, and contractors to meet validated requirements is September 2025. To implement this recommendation, DOD needs to conduct a comprehensive review that considers the least costly mix of personnel.

Security Assistance: Guidance Needed for Completing Required Impact Assessments Prior to Presidential Drawdowns

GAO-17-26
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense To implement DOD guidance requiring the military departments to prepare readiness and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) budget impact assessments during drawdown planning, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretaries of the military departments to develop guidance that assigns responsibility for the preparation of impact assessments and includes direction on how such assessments should be conducted as part of drawdown planning.
Open
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) issued a memorandum on April 14, 2021, announcing the modification of Security Assistance Management Manual section C11.2, "Drawdowns," to provide amplifying guidance for required operational readiness impact assessments within the planning process and other administrative updates. Specifically, the updated manual calls for the military departments to prepare an operational readiness impact assessment and an operation and maintenance budget impact assessment based on interagency-proposed drawdown support and provide all data elements to the appropriate DSCA Country Portfolio Director. However, the military departments have not developed guidance that assigns responsibility for the preparation of impact assessments and includes direction on how such assessments should be conducted as part of drawdown planning, as called for in our recommendation. In July 2022, DOD reported to GAO that the military departments are expected to have developed the relevant guidance by December 31, 2023. According to DOD, the military services currently complete operational readiness impact statements prior to presidential drawdown sourcing. In addition, DOD has directed the services to assess the cumulative readiness impacts of all previous presidential drawdowns, which will be used a baseline when assessing the impacts of future drawdown packages.

DOD Financial Management: Significant Improvements Needed in Efforts to Address Improper Payment Requirements

GAO-13-227
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), with regard to estimating improper payments, to establish and implement key quality assurance procedures, such as reconciliations, to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the sampled populations.
Open
DOD agreed with this recommendation. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) developed an inventory of approximately 80 DOD systems related to disbursing functions. As of March 2024, DOD estimated that by May 2025, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and DOD components will have established financial management system agreements for improper payments testing. These signed agreements will require DOD components to affirm the completeness of the payments in each financial management system to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the sampled populations. In addition, DOD estimated that by May 2025, DOD's platform for analyzing sampling and transaction details called Advana will build on DOD's capability to provide a universe of transactions for the annual financial statement audits and will also be used for the payment program. To implement this recommendation, DOD should resolve material weaknesses in its department-wide universe of transactions. Specifically, it should resolve weaknesses that preclude it from performing the quality assurance procedures needed to ensure that the populations from which the samples are drawn to estimate improper payments are complete and accurate. Without implementing this recommendation, DOD remains at risk of producing incomplete and unreliable improper payment estimates.

Department of Defense: Actions Needed to Improve Management and Oversight of Dependency Determinations for Incapacitated Adult Children

GAO-20-335
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness clarifies the definition of a nondependent family member in DOD Instruction 1315.19 and the circumstances under which nondependent family members should be considered for services provided by the Exceptional Family Member Program. (Recommendation 5)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation and stated that it will review its policy to determine if the definition of a nondependent family member continues to be current and appropriate. In September 2023, DOD stated that it is updating DOD Instruction 1315.19. DOD expects to complete the update by May 2025. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Southwest Border Security: Actions Are Needed to Address the Cost and Readiness Implications of Continued DOD Support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection

GAO-21-356
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) follows GAO best practices for credible estimates when assessing DHS's RFAs related to the southwest border by completing a robust sensitivity analysis of key cost drivers, a risk and uncertainty analysis, and cross checks for future RFAs. (Recommendation 2)
Open
As of July 2023, DOD hasn't taken any action to address this recommendation. DOD stated that it used the Contingency Operations Support Tool model to develop its cost estimates, and that among other things, the estimates were informed by execution data reported by the DOD components. However, we found that DOD's cost model does not include an assessment of risk, sensitivity, and cross checks, all of which are needed to create high-quality and reliable estimates. We believe this recommendation is still relevant and will continue to monitor the status, especially given that DOD continues to support DHS at the southwest border and has agreed to do so through at least fiscal year 2024.

F-35 Sustainment: DOD Needs to Cut Billions in Estimated Costs to Achieve Affordability

GAO-21-439
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that, prior to the Milestone C decision, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the services and the F-35 Joint Program Office, develop and document a risk-management approach for addressing potential challenges or making adjustments in order to achieve affordability objectives. (Recommendation 4)
Open
DOD agreed with the substance of the recommendation. As of February 2024, DOD officials told us that the F-35 Joint Program Office has implemented a War on Cost initiative that is revising the strategy for addressing affordability concerns and helping to meet the military services' updated sustainment affordability constraints. According to these officials, once this strategy is updated to reflect the military services' updated affordability constraints, the F-35 program's Joint Risk Management Plan will be reviewed and revised as appropriate. Until these actions are taken and a risk-management approach has been developed and documented, this recommendation will remain open.

Defense Acquisitions: DOD Should Take Additional Actions to Improve How It Approaches Intellectual Property

GAO-22-104752
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition should ensure that the Director of the IP Cadre develops additional guidance to help component heads and DACMs identify the DOD personnel in key career fields that would benefit most from receiving IP training and credentials. (Recommendation 4)
Open
DOD concurred with our recommendation. In March 2022, DOD identified actions it plans to take in the coming year to address this recommendation, including developing guidance that will identify personnel in key career fields that would benefit from receiving IP training and credentials. To address this recommendation, DOD should fully implement those actions.

Food Program: DOD Should Formalize Its Process for Revising Food Ingredients and Better Track Dining Facility Use and Costs

GAO-22-103949
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of the Navy should establish a requirement for food program officials to conduct assessments of the effectiveness and efficiency of their installation-wide food programs, including satellite operations and nonappropriated fund dining venues as appropriate, in providing healthy meals to servicemembers with a meal entitlement. (Recommendation 7)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. DOD provided an update that the Navy had developed nutrition standards for dining venues other than appropriated fund dining facilities, specifically for Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) nonappropriated fund operations. Further, the Navy expanded assessments to include those sites that allow service members to claim a meal entitlement, and stated it has accreditation site visits scheduled and reports on findings. As of December 2023, the Navy has not provided documentation of the standards, accreditation site visits, or findings reports. We will assess any documentation when provided to determine if these actions meet the intent of the recommendation.
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