This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-03-137T
entitled 'Chemical And Biological Defense: Observations on DOD’s Risk 
Assessment of Defense Capabilities' which was released on October 1, 
2002. 

This text file was formatted by the U.S. Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part 
of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every 
attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of 
the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text 
descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the 
end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided 
but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed 
version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic 
replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. Please E-mail 
your comments regarding the contents or accessibility features of this 
document to Webmaster@gao.gov. 

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright 
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed 
in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work 
may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the 
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this 
material separately. 

United States General Accounting Office: 
GAO: 

Testimony: 

Before the Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and 
International Relations, Committee on Government Reform, House of
Representatives: 

For Release on Delivery: 
Expected at 10:00 a.m.
Tuesday, October 1, 2002: 

Chemical And Biological Defense: 
Observations on DOD’s Risk Assessment of Defense Capabilities: 

Statement of Raymond J. Decker, Director: 
Defense Capabilities and Management: 

GAO-03-137T: 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: 

We are pleased to be here today to discuss the Department of Defense’s
(DOD) continuing efforts to protect U.S. military forces against 
chemical and biological attack. DOD believes it is increasingly likely 
that an adversary will use chemical or biological weapons against U.S. 
forces to degrade superior U.S. conventional warfare capabilities, 
placing service members’ lives and effective military operations at 
risk. Currently, more than 20 states or non-state groups either have, 
or have an interest in acquiring, chemical weapons. Also, about 12 
countries are believed to have biological warfare programs, and 
terrorist groups are known to be interested in these weapons. 

Potential adversaries, especially in the Middle East and Northeast Asia,
have chemical and biological weapons stocks and the means to deliver 
them. U.S. forces therefore need to be properly trained and equipped to
operate in a chemically or biologically contaminated environment. As we
have reported, when the threat of chemical and biological weapons use
occurred during the Gulf War, deploying U.S. forces encountered a wide
array of problems, including unsuitable and inadequate supplies of
protective equipment, inadequate training in its use, and unsatisfactory
chemical and biological detectors. 

Summary: 

During the past 6 years, we have identified many problems in DOD’s
capabilities to defend against chemical and biological weapons and 
sustain operations in the midst of their use. While we have found that 
DOD has made some improvements — in equipment, training, and reporting, 
and in the coordination of research and development activities — we have
continuing concerns in each of these areas. One particular issue is the
supply of chemical protective clothing and the way associated risk is
assessed. Due to the upcoming expiration of existing protective suits, 
the slower rate at which new suits are entering the inventory, and DOD’s
method of assessing risk for individual items rather than complete
protective ensembles, we believe that the risk for protective clothing
shortages may increase dramatically from now through at least 2007. We
also are concerned that certain management weaknesses, such as program
organizational complexity and prolonged vacancies in key leadership
positions, may have sent a message throughout the department about the
relative priority and importance of the Chemical and Biological Defense
Program. 

Today, as requested, we will: (1) briefly discuss the shortcomings we
identified in previous work with regard to DOD’s protection of its 
forces against chemical and biological warfare and the steps DOD has 
taken to date to address them; (2) discuss the status of DOD’s current 
and projected inventory of chemical and biological protective suits, 
and (3) present our observations on the management of DOD’s Chemical and
Biological Defense Program. We will furnish an additional statement for
the closed session this afternoon. 

Chemical and Biological Defense Has Improved, but Problems Persist: 

Since 1995, GAO has focused on the chemical and biological defense area,
which has resulted in a series of reports and testimonies before 
Congress on DOD’s efforts to prepare troops to survive and operate in a 
chemically and biologically contaminated environment. Major problem 
areas have included shortfalls in equipment, training, and reporting 
and weaknesses in coordinating program research and development 
activities. Although DOD has taken significant actions to improve the 
program and has increased its funding, serious problems still persist. 

Shortfalls in Equipment, Training, and Reporting: 

Our first major report, issued in March 1996, discussed the overall
capability of U.S. forces to fight and survive chemical and biological
warfare and is the centerpiece for much of the work we have performed
since then.[Footnote 1] We reported that DOD was slow in responding to 
the lessons learned during the Gulf War. Specifically, 

* early deploying units lacked required equipment such as chemical 
detector paper, decontamination kits, and sufficient quantities of
protective clothing; 

* Army and Marine forces remained inadequately trained for effective
chemical and biological defense; 

* joint exercises included little chemical or biological defense 
training; 

* Army medical units often lacked chemical and biological defense
equipment and training; 

* biological agent vaccine stocks and immunization plans remained
inadequate; and; 

* research and development progress was slower than planned. 

We also reported that the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Status of Resources 
and Training System (SORTS) — DOD’s system for reporting the overall
readiness of units — was of limited value in determining the readiness 
of units to operate in a chemically or biologically contaminated 
environment. The system was established to provide the current status 
of specific elements considered essential to readiness assessments, 
such as personnel and equipment on hand, equipment condition, and 
training. However, we found that this system allowed commanders to 
report their unit’s overall readiness subjectively regardless of the 
unit’s actual readiness to operate in a chemically or biologically 
contaminated environment. 

We concluded that chemical and biological defense equipment, training,
and medical problems were persisting and, if not addressed, were likely 
to result in needless casualties and a degradation of U.S. war fighting
capability. We noted that despite DOD’s increased emphasis on chemical
and biological defense, it continued to receive a lower priority than
traditional mission tasks at all levels of command. Many field 
commanders accepted a level of chemical and biological defense 
unpreparedness and told us that the resources devoted to that area were 
appropriate, given other threat concerns and budgetary constraints. 

Unit Equipment Levels Have Improved, but Shortages Remain in Key Areas: 

When we looked again in 2000 at the readiness of early deploying U.S.
forces to operate in a chemically or biologically contaminated 
environment, we found the situation generally improved.[Footnote 2] 
Units we reviewed included three Army divisions, two Air Force fighter 
wings, and one Marine Corps expeditionary force. Military units are 
generally expected to have at least 70 percent of their equipment 
requirements on hand. 

The units we visited had all their required individual protective 
equipment (such as suits, boots, and gloves) and most chemical and 
biological medical supplies and detection and decontamination equipment 
needed to operate in a chemically or biologically contaminated 
environment. In the medical arena, the Army divisions had all their 
needed medical supplies. The Air Force wings had most of their medical 
supplies, but we noted shortages of some critical items. For example, 
one wing had only 25 percent of the protective masks required to treat 
contaminated patients and only 48 percent of required patient 
decontamination kits. The units we visited had shortages in detection 
and decontamination equipment, but these shortages varied both across 
and within the services. For example, one Marine Corps unit and one Air 
Force unit had 31 percent and 50 percent, respectively, of their 
chemical agent monitors, whereas the other Air Force unit had 100 
percent of its monitors. The three Army units we reviewed had between 
88 and 103 percent of their requirements for the same item. Officials 
at the units with shortages of equipment said that when the units 
deploy, the shortages would be filled from stocks held by later 
deployers or from war reserves. However, the units had not determined 
whether this solution would meet their equipment requirements or what 
impact this action might have on the later deploying units’ 
capabilities or on war reserves. The medical readiness of some units
to conduct operations in a contaminated environment therefore remained
questionable. 

Training Deficiencies Persist: 

Chemical and biological defense training continues to be a problem area.
We reported in 1996 that commanders were not integrating chemical and
biological defense into unit exercises and that the training was not 
always realistic in terms of how units would operate in wartime. For 
example, Marine Corps commanders did not fully integrate chemical and 
biological defense into unit exercises, as required by Marine Corps 
policies, because operating in protective equipment is difficult and 
time consuming and this (1) decreases the number of combat essential 
tasks that can be performed during an exercise and (2) limits offensive 
combat operations. Officials stated that chemical and biological 
defense training is still being adversely impacted by (1) a shortage of 
chemical and biological defense specialists and (2) the fact that these 
specialists are often assigned multiple responsibilities unrelated to 
their specialties. For example, Army units we reviewed had from 76 to 
102 percent of their authorized enlisted chemical personnel and from 75 
to 88 percent of their chemical officers. The Marine Corps unit we 
visited had 84 percent of its authorized enlisted chemical specialists 
and 80 percent of its chemical officers. 
 
Reporting Has Improved, but Changes are Incomplete: 

We also reported that DOD’s monitoring of chemical and biological 
defense readiness has improved since our 1996 report. In April 2000, the
Joint Chiefs of Staff directed changes to the Status of Resources and
Training System that would require units to report more clearly on the
quantity of chemical and biological equipment on hand and on training
readiness. However, we noted the changes do not require that units 
report on the condition of their chemical and biological defense 
equipment. Thus, these reports could indicate that a unit had its 
chemical and biological equipment, but they would not show whether this 
equipment was serviceable. 

Continuing Problems Confront DOD’s Coordination of Research and 
Development Programs: 

We have issued a series of reports that address DOD’s coordination of
chemical and biological defense research and development programs. For
example, in September 1998 we reported on DOD’s approach to
addressing U.S. troop exposures to low levels of chemical warfare 
agents.[Footnote 3] Low-level exposure is a concern because it may 
potentially cause or contribute to health problems that may not become 
evident for years after exposure. Specifically, we reported that: 

* DOD did not have an integrated strategy to address exposure to low
levels of chemical warfare agents. 

* Past research by DOD and others indicated that single and repeated
low-level exposures to some chemical warfare agents could result in
adverse psychological, physiological, behavioral, and performance
effects that may have military implications. We also highlighted
limitations of the current research. 

* DOD had allocated nearly $10 million (about 1.5 percent) of its
chemical and biological defense research, development, testing, and
evaluation program to fund projects on low-level chemical warfare
agent exposures. 

In August 1999 we reported on the coordination of federal research and
development efforts to develop nonmedical technology related to
chemical and biological defense, an issue that DOD has not addressed 
until recently.[Footnote 4] We identified four programs engaged in 
activities ranging from applied research to prototype development: two 
of these programs developed technologies primarily for military war 
fighting applications, and two others developed technologies primarily 
to assist civilians responding to terrorist incidents. We concluded 
that the formal and informal program coordination mechanisms may not 
ensure that potential overlaps, gaps, and opportunities for 
collaboration would be addressed. We highlighted that agency officials 
were aware of the deficiencies in the existing coordination mechanisms 
and that some had initiated additional informal contacts. 

We are currently reviewing the effectiveness of DOD’s research and 
testing activities in providing the scientific information needed to 
address doctrinal, policy, and procedural shortcomings affecting DOD’s 
ability to operate in a chemically contaminated environment, as well as 
DOD’s approach to ensure the survivability of mission-essential systems 
in the case of a chemical or biological attack. DOD’s work in this area 
is crucial for developing the means to assure the restoration of 
operations in the event of chemical and biological attacks on U.S. 
forces at critical overseas depots, ports, and airfields. 

Concerns Remain Regarding DOD’s Inventory of Protective Clothing: 

Individual protection is a critically important component of the overall
chemical and biological defense program. DOD has recognized that
military service members may not be able to avoid exposure to chemical
and biological agents and has consequently provided U.S. forces with
individual protective equipment, including clothing ensembles. We have
conducted several recent reviews on this subject and are continuing to
focus on DOD’s acquisition and management of this equipment because of
the potential for increased risks in this area. Specifically, our 
primary concerns involve DOD’s (1) process for assessing the risk of 
wartime protective equipment shortages, (2) plans for addressing 
projected suit shortages due to the expiration by 2007 of most of the 
existing inventory, and (3) related inventory management and business 
practices. After updating equipment status and trends, we will discuss 
our recent reports and ongoing work in this area. 

Current Inventory Status and Trends: 

Until recently, DOD calculated its chemical and biological defense 
equipment needs in one of two ways: by assessing either how much would
be needed to prevail in two nearly simultaneous major theater wars 
(often referred to as the “2-MTW” requirement), or how much would be 
needed to fight two MTWs as well as maintaining supplies for peacetime 
and training use, the “total service requirement.” In its most recent 
Annual Report to Congress, for example, DOD reported both inventory and 
these requirements for each item as of the end of fiscal year 2001. The 
report shows that several items, particularly in Navy stocks, qualify 
as “high-risk;” that is, less than 70 percent of needed equipment is on 
hand. Other items, such as masks, are “low-risk;” that is, the services 
have more than 85 percent of the needed equipment on hand. (We have 
been able to update some of the data, in which we generally found only 
modest changes from the data we show here.) Figure 1 shows these 
inventory levels, by service, for key components of the protective 
clothing ensemble. 

Figure 1: Individual Protective Clothing Inventory, End of Fiscal Year 
2001: 

[See PDF for image] 

This figure is a multiple vertical bar graph depicting the following 
approximated data: 

Individual Protective Clothing Inventory, End of Fiscal Year 2001 
(percent of 2-MTW requirement on-hand): 

Service: Army; 
Mask: 145%; 
Filters: 95%; 
Suits: 1005; 
Boots: 75%; 
Gloves: 85%. 

Service: Air Force; 
Mask: 85%; 
Filters: 125%; 
Suits: 50%; 
Boots: 130%; 
Gloves: 55%. 

Service: Navy; 
Mask: 65% 
Filters: 25%; 
Suits: 15%; 
Boots: 75%; 
Gloves: 15%. 

Service: Marine Corps; 
Mask: 150%; 
Filters: 85%; 
Suits: 80%; 
Boots: 35%; 
Gloves: 50%. 

Source: Chemical and Biological Defense Program Report to Congress, 
April 2002. 

[End of figure] 

Process for Assessing Risk is Flawed: 

We found, though, that the raw data may understate the real risk because
the method that DOD has used to calculate risk may be flawed. In
September 2001, we reported that DOD’s criteria for assessing the risk 
of wartime shortages for protective clothing are unreliable. At that 
time we found that DOD had inaccurately reported the risk in most cases 
as “low.” We reported that the process for determining risk is 
fundamentally flawed because (1) DOD determines requirements by 
individual pieces of protective equipment — suits, masks, breathing 
filters, gloves, boots, and hoods — rather than by the number of 
complete protective ensembles that can be provided to deploying service 
members, and (2) the process for determining risk combines individual 
service requirements and reported inventory data into general 
categories, masking specific critical shortages that affect individual 
service readiness. Had DOD assessed the risk on the basis of the number 
of complete ensembles it had available, by service, the risk would have 
risen to “high” for all of the services. 

Suit Inventory May be Insufficient to Meet Requirements: 

As a result of the September 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review, DOD has
begun to reexamine its requirements. At present, there are several
requirements levels against which inventory is measured. Official 
reports have commonly used the “2 Major Theater War” and the “Total 
Service Requirement” standards. New interim guidance indicates that DOD 
should be able to fully meet conflict equipment needs in one theater, 
while meeting only partial requirements in another. This requirement, 
which is expected to be finalized when DOD publishes the Illustrative 
Planning Scenario annex to its Defense Planning Guidance, is referred 
to as the “150 percent of an MTW” option. 

Whatever the official requirement, the risk to U.S. forces may be
increasing for two reasons. First, DOD has not yet revised its risk
assessment process to consider ensemble needs and service imbalances.
Second, suit shortages are projected to escalate in the next few years
because (1) the majority of suits in the current inventory will reach 
the end of their useful life and expire by 2007, and (2) new Joint 
Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology (JSLIST) suits, along 
with other new generation protective ensemble components such as gloves 
and boots, are not entering the inventory as quickly as originally 
planned. Consequently, the old suits are expiring faster than they are 
being replaced. 

We are concerned that some ensemble components, particularly suits, may
not be available in adequate numbers to meet near-term minimum
requirements. As of August 30, 2002, DOD had procured about 1.5 million
of the new JSLIST suits, of which the majority were issued to the 
military services. (Others are held in Defense Logistics Agency 
reserves, provided to foreign governments under the Foreign Military 
Sales program, or allocated to domestic uses.) Together with the 
existing inventory of earlier-generation suits, we estimate that DOD 
has a total of 4.5 million suits. This level is now barely sufficient 
to meet the new requirement to supply 150 percent of an MTW. It is far 
below the Army-chaired Joint Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense 
Board requirement, called the Joint Acquisition Objective, which 
combines elements of DOD and service calculations. If new suit funding 
and production does not increase sufficiently to replace the expiring 
suits, the inventory will even drop below minimal needs for the 150 
percent of an MTW requirement until at least 2007. The risk for 
protective clothing shortages may therefore increase dramatically 
during this period. Figure 2 illustrates this trend. 

Figure 2. Trends in Suit Procurement and Requirements: 

[See PDF for image] 

This figure is a combination line and stacked vertical bar graph 
depicting the following approximated data: 

Fiscal year: 2001; 
Total service requirement: 8 million suits; 
2-major theater war requirement: 6 million suits; 
Joint Acquisition Objective: 5 million suits; 
JSLIST/Saratoga (new suites): 2.7 million; 
Battle Dress Overgarment (old suit): 3 million. 

Fiscal year: 2002; 
Total service requirement: 8 million suits; 
2-major theater war requirement: 6 million suits; 
Joint Acquisition Objective: 6 million suits; 
150% MTW: 4.5 million; 
JSLIST/Saratoga (new suites): 2 million; 
Battle Dress Overgarment (old suit): 2.5 million. 

Fiscal year: 2003; 
Total service requirement: 8 million suits; 
2-major theater war requirement: 6 million suits; 
Joint Acquisition Objective: 6 million suits; 
150% MTW: 4.5 million; 
JSLIST/Saratoga (new suites): 2.5 million; 
Battle Dress Overgarment (old suit): 2 million. 

Fiscal year: 2004; 
Total service requirement: 8 million suits; 
2-major theater war requirement: 6 million suits; 
Joint Acquisition Objective: 6.25 million suits; 
150% MTW: 4.5 million; 
JSLIST/Saratoga (new suites): 2.8 million; 
Battle Dress Overgarment (old suit): 1.2 million. 

Fiscal year: 2005; 
Total service requirement: 8 million suits; 
2-major theater war requirement: 6 million suits; 
Joint Acquisition Objective: 6.25 million suits; 
150% MTW: 4.5 million; 
JSLIST/Saratoga (new suites): 3 million; 
Battle Dress Overgarment (old suit): 0.8 million. 

Fiscal year: 2006; 
Total service requirement: 8 million suits; 
2-major theater war requirement: 6 million suits; 
Joint Acquisition Objective: 6.25 million suits; 
150% MTW: 4.5 million; 
JSLIST/Saratoga (new suites): 3.5 million; 
Battle Dress Overgarment (old suit): 0. 

Fiscal year: 2007; 
Total service requirement: 8 million suits; 
2-major theater war requirement: 6 million suits; 
Joint Acquisition Objective: 6.25 million suits; 
150% MTW: 4.5 million; 
JSLIST/Saratoga (new suites): 3.8 million; 
Battle Dress Overgarment (old suit): 0. 

Note: The Joint Acquisition Objective increased in 2002. This estimate 
assumes that none of the suits counted as available in FY 2002 has 
already expired or is defective. 

Sources: DOD Chemical and Biological Defense Research, Development and 
Acquisition Plan, April 2002; Program Strategy Guidance; GAO data 
analysis. 

[End of figure] 

Inventory Management Practices Prevent Accurate Risk Assessment: 

Inadequate management of inventory is an additional risk factor because
readiness can be compromised by DOD’s inventory management practices,
which prevent an accurate accounting of availability or adequacy of 
DOD’s protective equipment. The practices we identified regarding 
inventories of chemical and biological equipment contribute to the 
development of erroneous inventory data that in turn affect the 
accuracy of the risk assessment. Specifically, we reported the 
following: 

* DOD could not monitor the status of the entire inventory of protective
equipment because the services and the Defense Logistics Agency use at 
least nine different systems of inventory management with differing 
data fields to manage suit inventories. The systems’ records contain
data that cannot be easily linked. 

* DOD could not determine whether its older suits would adequately
protect service members because some of the systems’ records omit
essential data on suit expiration. 

* DOD could not easily identify, track, and locate defective suits 
because inventory records do not always include contract and lot 
numbers. In May 2000, DOD directed units and depots to locate 778,924 
defective suits produced by a single manufacturer; as of July 2002, as 
many as 250,000 of these suits remained unaccounted for. 

* DOD counted new suits as on hand before they had been delivered and
consequently overstated the actual inventory. In response to one of our
report recommendations, DOD now reports “on hand” and “due-in” suits 
separately in its Annual Program Report to the Congress. 

DOD’s Business Processes Remain Inefficient: 

We have also testified before this Committee as part of our work on the
need for DOD to reform its business operations.[Footnote 5] We noted 
that inventory management procedures related to JSLIST suits, systems, 
and processes result in DOD, the military services, and military units 
not knowing how many items they have and where they are located. 

DOD’s business processes for procuring, controlling, and paying for
JSLIST suits rely on manual data transmission and entry into 
nonintegrated data systems. We identified 128 processing steps performed
by 11 DOD components, such as the Defense Logistics Agency, Defense
Finance and Accounting Service, and the military services. Of the 128
steps, 100 steps, or 78 percent, involved manual entry or re-entry of 
data into one or more of the 13 nonintegrated data systems supporting 
the JSLIST processes. However, the complex, nonintegrated, error-prone
process precludes DOD from being able to quickly and accurately identify
the suits’ location and condition. 

Further, at the military units that GAO visited, the methods used to 
control and maintain visibility over JSLIST suits issued to them ranged 
from automated information systems, to spreadsheet applications, to 
paper, to dry eraser board, to none. The data maintained also varied. 
Some units maintained specific data, including manufacturer, 
manufacture date, and production lot number, while other units 
maintained little or no data. DOD is now taking steps to correct this 
problem and improve asset visibility at all levels. As recently as 2000 
there was no single office that tracked all JSLIST suit production and 
fielding DOD-wide, for example, and the annual report to Congress was 
compiled by data calls to each individual service and major command 
within the services. Now there is such an office: the Marine Corps, in 
its role as commodity area manager for individual protection, can 
report new production of JSLIST ensemble items (suits, boots, and 
gloves) and the services to which they have been fielded. Our work to 
date has found that the Marine Corps program office has established an 
effective system for managing this information. 

Program Review Underway: 

We are currently reviewing factors related to JSLIST production and the
implications of the removal of the expiring suits from the inventory. 
Our work will (1) evaluate whether DOD’s requirements and activities for
acquiring and sustaining chemical protective equipment provide the
military with sufficient usable chemical and biological protective 
clothing ensembles; (2) assess DOD’s current risk assessment, testing,
development, and production procedures; and (3) evaluate the
effectiveness of DOD’s actions to mitigate any shortfalls. We plan to 
report our results early next year. 

Observations on Program Management: 

Our body of work over 7 years highlights a serious gap between the 
priority given chemical and biological defense by DOD and the actual
implementation of the program. Both the 1997 and 2001 Quadrennial 
Defense Reviews identified chemical and biological defense as key 
priorities of the Department of Defense. Although the program overall is
clearly improved and better funded since 1995, many of the problems we
previously reported still have not been resolved. We are concerned that
DOD’s efforts to implement this program are not consistent with the 
emphasis given to it in overall department guidance. Organization 
complexity, vacancies in key positions, and priority conflicts are all
factors that have contributed to program difficulties and, if not 
resolved, will continue to weaken DOD’s management of this program. 

Program Organizational Complexity: 

The management of the Chemical and Biological Defense program is 
diffuse, with numerous offices and activities responsible for separate
aspects, notwithstanding the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 1994’s (P.L. 103-160) attempt to bring oversight under one
organizational authority. Concurrence on program direction is therefore
sometimes difficult to achieve. This act required the Secretary of 
Defense to assign responsibility for overall coordination and 
integration of the Chemical and Biological Defense program to a single 
office within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), and to 
designate the Army as executive agent to coordinate and integrate the 
chemical and biological research, development, test and evaluation, and 
acquisition requirements of the military departments. Although this 
office was established shortly thereafter, many aspects of DOD’s 
management of chemical and biological defense remain spread between 
this office, the military services, and other DOD organizations. 
Furthermore, each individual service also has numerous offices devoted 
to various aspects of chemical and biological defense, including 
planning, logistics, and acquisition. The services purchase their own 
consumable items such as protective suit replacements under their role 
of managing their own operations and maintenance funds; a process over 
which OSD has limited visibility. Figure 3 depicts the current 
organization for DOD’s management of its Chemical and Biological 
Defense Program (CBDP), as well as some of the changes now being 
implemented or under consideration. 

Figure 3. Current CBDP Organization and Potential Changes: 

[See PDF for image] 

This figure is an organizational chart indicating potential changes, as 
follows: 

Today's Chemical Biological Defense Program (CBDP) Organization: 

Oversight: 

USD(AT&L): 
* DDR&E: 
- DARPA BWD; 

USD(AT&L): OSD CB Defense Steering Committee (to be replaced by OIPT); 
* ATSD (NCB), Chair; 
- DTRA; 
* ATSD (NCB), Executive Secretary; 
- DTRA (CB); 
* Joint Staff; 
- ASD (HA), non-voting member; 
- ASD (ISP), non-voting member; 

ASBREM Committee. 

Management: 

ASBREM Steering Group; 
* Joint NBC Defense Board, Army as Executive Agent; 
- JSIG (To be replaced by a Joint Requirements Office); 
- MPSP; 
- JSMG (to be replaced by JPEO); 
- MCBDRP; 
- JSTPCBD. 

Execution, MDAs: 

Army: 
* Soldier and Biological Chemical Command; 
* Medical Materiel Development Activity; 
* JPO for Biological Defense; 

Navy: 
* Naval Sea Systems Command; 
* Naval Air Systems Comment; 
* Marine Corps Systems Command; 
* SPAWAR Command; 
 
Air Force: 
* Air Force Materiel Commend; 

Others: 
* DTRA (ACTDs/Counterproliferation Support Program). 

Source: DOD. 

[End of figure] 

The OSD office at the Assistant Secretary level that is charged with 
overall coordination of the Chemical and Biological Defense Program 
also went through upheaval during the latter part of the 1990s. The 
position was initially slated for elimination under the terms of the 
1997 Defense Reform Initiative (DRI). As a result of the DRI, OSD 
oversight functions were transferred to a different staff office within 
the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Director, Defense Research and 
Engineering), while management and most staffing of the program were 
transferred to a directorate within the Defense Threat Reduction Agency 
(DTRA). This directorate, in turn, has had five directors in less than 
4 years. 

Vacancies in Key OSD Positions: 

We also believe that the emphasis DOD placed on the Chemical and
Biological Defense Program was adversely affected by the absence of
leadership at the Assistant Secretary level for nearly 4 years. In
accordance with P.L. 103-160, the Secretary designated the Assistant to 
the Secretary for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense (ATSD) as 
the principal officer responsible for oversight and coordination of the
program. However, this position was vacant from 1998 through late 2001.
The Deputy ATSD, who exercises day-to-day oversight over the program,
was also vacant for more than a year during that period. We believe 
these OSD vacancies adversely affected the high-level attention 
received by the program as well as its ability to compete for funding 
against other defense needs, thereby sending a message throughout the 
Department about the relative priority and importance attached to the 
program. 

Competing Priorities: 

DOD has requested almost $1.4 billion for the Chemical and Biological
Defense Program in fiscal year 2003 — more than three times the fiscal
year 1994 amount. Nevertheless, the program has consistently had
difficulty competing against other service priorities, such as those
associated with traditional mission tasks. Despite the emphasis placed 
on this program by the Quadrennial Defense Review, spending on chemical
and biological defense represents about a third of a percent of the 
entire $369 billion DOD budget request. 

DOD officials and field commanders alike have repeatedly stressed that
they must balance chemical and biological defense requirements against
all other defense needs, and do so within a constrained budget
environment. For example, as we reported in 1996, officers have cited
other-than-war deployments, quality of life considerations, and 
peacetime medical care as higher priorities than chemical and 
biological defense. We have previously recommended that chemical and 
biological defense needed direct representation by a general officer on 
the Joint Staff in order to receive the appropriate program emphasis 
and support. DOD has recently implemented this change. It remains to be 
seen what the effect of this change will be. Figure 4 shows the growth 
in Chemical and Biological Defense Program funding since fiscal year 
1994. 

Figure 4. Funding for Chemical and Biological Defense Program: 

[See PDF for image] 

This figure is a multiple line graph depicting funding for Chemical and 
Biological Defense Program in constant FY2002 dollars in millions for 
the following categories: 
Procurement; 
RDT&E; 
Military construction; 
Total. 

Note: FY 2002 includes $0.7 million for military construction and FY 
2003 includes $5.0 million for military construction. The peak in FY 
2003 is caused by inclusion in the CBDP budget of $420 million to 
support Office of Homeland Security biodefense projects and $56 million 
for installation force protection. 

Source: DOD. 

[End of figure] 

There is also competition within the program between the main categories
of research and development and procurement.[Footnote 6] At present, 
some components of the clothing ensemble, such as the JSLIST glove and 
nextgeneration mask, are in the developmental phase; others, like the 
JSLIST suit, are in procurement. In deciding how much money to allocate 
to each of the various categories and specific projects, DOD relies on 
the Joint Priority List, which integrates and rank-orders the 
preferences of combatant commanders for all chemical and biological 
equipment needs. On this year’s Joint Priority List, for example, the 
JSLIST suit ranked 35 out of 72 items. Biodetection capabilities 
occupied the first spaces on that list. In fiscal year 2003, $96 
million is earmarked for the procurement of JSLIST suits. Conflicts 
over internal program priorities thus can also affect issues such as 
shortages of JSLIST suits. 

Conclusion: 

DOD has made improvements over the years to defend against and sustain
operations in the midst of chemical and biological weapons use. These
gains have been primarily in the areas of equipment, training, and
readiness reporting. During the past 6 years, DOD has concurred or
partially concurred with 36 of the 37 recommendations contained in the
GAO reports referred to in this testimony, and initiated or completed
action on many of these. DOD recognizes that the management and
organization of the program needs improvement and has recently
proposed organizational and other changes designed to address many of
the shortcomings we identified in prior reports. In particular, DOD
recently approved the establishment of a Joint Requirements office 
within the Joint Staff and named a general officer as its director.
However, a real gap remains between the priority and emphasis given
chemical and biological defense by DOD and the actual implementation of
the program. Many needed improvements remain to be realized.
Furthermore, we are concerned that without the leadership and
commitment of the department to address the long term conditions we
have identified, the service members of our country may be at risk in a
contaminated environment. I would be pleased to respond to any 
questions that you have. 

[End of testimony] 

Footnotes: 

[1] U.S. General Accounting Office, Chemical and Biological Defense: 
Emphasis Remains Insufficient to Resolve Continuing Problems, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-96-103] 
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 29, 1996). 

[2] U.S. General Accounting Office, Chemical and Biological Defense: 
Units Better Equipped, but Training and Readiness Reporting Problems 
Remain, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-01-27] 
(Washington, D.C.: Nov. 14, 2000). 

[3] U.S. General Accounting Office, Chemical Weapons: DOD Does Not Have 
a Strategy to Address Low-Level Exposures [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-98-228] (Washington, D.C.: 
Sept. 23, 1998). 

[4] U.S. General Accounting Office, Chemical and Biological Defense: 
Coordination of Nonmedical Chemical and Biological R&D Programs 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-99-160] 
(Washington, D.C.: Aug. 16, 1999). 

[5] U.S. General Accounting Office, DOD Management: Examples of 
Inefficient and Ineffective Business Processes, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-873T] (Washington, D.C.: June 
25, 2002). 

[6] Small sums are also spent on military construction projects. 

[End of section]