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Open Recommendations (109 total)

Unmanned Aerial Systems: Air Force Should Take Additional Steps to Improve Aircrew Staffing and Support

GAO-20-320
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Air Force The Secretary of the Air Force should ensure that the number of instructor positions needed at the RPA training unit at Holloman Air Force Base is updated by applying more complete, accurate and timely information to better reflect the training curriculum and instructor needs. (Recommendation 2)
Open – Partially Addressed
DOD concurred with this recommendation. It noted that it is planning to conduct a study on the appropriate pilot and sensor operator instructor manning. According to the Air Force, in February 2020 it requested the Air Force Manpower Analysis Agency (AFMAA) conduct an updated study of the appropriate pilot and sensor operator instructor manning. The Air Force completed the study in March 2021 and provided us a copy in December 2022. As of December 2022, the Air Force had updated its estimated completion date to implement the results to December 2023. We will continue to monitor the status and results of the Air Force's efforts.

Military Training: The Services Need to Ensure That All Commanders Are Prepared for Their Legal Responsibilities

GAO-21-338
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Air Force The Secretary of the Air Force should ensure The Air Force Judge Advocate General's School establishes and implements guidance for conducting Level 3 surveys of dedicated legal training on a continual basis. (Recommendation 7)
Open – Partially Addressed
DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of August 2021, Air Force officials stated that in order to ensure Air Force Judge Advocate General's School (AFJAGS) will establish and implement guidance for conducting Level 3 surveys of dedicated commander legal training on a continual basis, AFJAGS's guidance will require annual Level 3 evaluations conducted through two approaches: focus groups and electronic surveys. The officials estimated that these actions would be completed in June 2022. GAO followed up with DOD in June 2022, May 2023, and August 2023, but had not received an update as of September 2023. In December 2023, DOD provided documentation demonstrating that Air Force Judge Advocates conducted a Level 3 focus group in-person in Florida in Feb 22, targeting graduated SOLO attendees stationed at Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force Base. The documentation also demonstrated that In April 2023, Air Force Judge Advocates sent Level 3 surveys to SOLO attendees from FY21 and FY 22 (commanders who have been in command for approximately one year to one and a half years) for self-assessment. The Air Force noted that they continue to offer virtual Level 3 surveys until FY26 and will then offer another in-person focus group. They also noted that they reviewed the proposal to add a 360-degree feedback hybrid to the existing Level 3 survey process developed in 2021 and determined 360-degree feedback would not provide the intended outcome. These are positive steps to assess legal training. However, they do not provide evidence that guidance has been developed and implemented as specified in our recommendation. To fully implement GAO's recommendation, the Air Force needs to issue guidance that includes the requirement for conducting Level 3 surveys of their dedicated legal training and provides details about implementation of this requirement.

Small Business Research Programs: Agencies Should Further Improve Award Timeliness

GAO-22-104677
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Air Force The Secretary of the Air Force should evaluate the effectiveness of steps taken to improve SBIR and STTR award timeliness and take any necessary additional steps in order to consistently meet SBA award timeliness guidelines. (Recommendation 4)
Open – Partially Addressed
In its February 2022 letter responding to our report, DOD concurred with this recommendation. According to the letter, the Department of the Air Force developed a life cycle process to execute its SBIR/STTR program and will evaluate the effectiveness of steps taken to improve SBIR and STTR award timeliness, taking any necessary steps in order to consistently meet SBA award timeliness guidelines. The Air Force provided additional information in which it stated that it is developing an integrated master schedule that looks at tasks and durations across the steps in its life cycle process. In December 2023, we obtained and analyzed publicly available Air Force award data for FY22. Our analysis indicated that the Air Force did not meet SBA's award timeliness guidelines in FY22. Further, in combination with prior fiscal years, the Air Force has not met SBA's timeliness guidelines in at least 3 of the preceding 5 years based on available data. Going forward, we will follow up to obtain data on the Air Force's award timeliness in subsequent fiscal years to determine if actions the agency has taken have resulted in it being able to consistently meet SBA's award timeliness guidelines.

Space Command and Control: Opportunities Exist to Enhance Annual Reporting

GAO-22-104685
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Air Force The Secretary of the Air Force should ensure that the Department of the Air Force include additional contextual information in its annual reports related to significant changes from the previous report, such as the reasons for changes to short-term objectives. (Recommendation 1)
Open – Partially Addressed
The Department of Defense (DOD) partially agreed with our recommendation. In December 2021, DOD said that the Department of the Air Force (Air Force) plans to include additional contextual information related to significant changes from the previous report, such as the reasons for changes to short-term objectives, in the next Space Command and Control (C2) program annual report. In April 2022, the Air Force provided its 2022 Space C2 annual report on program status. The report included some additional contextual information related to the status of ongoing, achieved, and deferred objectives, such as detailed definitions to allow decision makers to track the status of efforts more accurately. In March 2023, the Air Force provided its 2023 Space C2 annual report on program status. Among other things, the 2023 report includes additional contextual information related to significant changes from the previous report. However, the report does not provide context related to changes made to certain top capabilities. In August 2023, the Air Force stated that it plans to provide sufficient contextual information related to certain top capabilities in the next annual report to Congress, which is expected in February 2024. We continue to believe this information would provide a more comprehensive picture on the status of the Space C2 program and the goals the program seeks to achieve. We will continue to review DOD's Space Command and Control annual reports to determine the extent to which this information is included.

DOD Financial Management: Air Force Needs to Improve Its System Migration Efforts

GAO-22-103636
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Air Force
Priority Rec.
The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller) should develop a systems migration plan based on leading migration practices to more timely transition from the Air Force's General Accounting and Finance System–Reengineered environment to the Defense Enterprise Accounting and Management System (DEAMS). (Recommendation 1)
Open – Partially Addressed
In October 2023, the Department of Defense (DOD) provided its September 2023 Department of the Air Force General Accounting and Finance System Migration Strategy and Plan (the plan). The plan was consistent with four of the leading migration practices described in our report and partially consistent with two of the practices. Specifically, the plan was consistent with leading practices associated with user interface capability, database capability, transition support, and system interface compatibility. The plan was partially consistent with leading practices associated with training and informing users about transition tasks and workloads. In particular, while the plan recognized the importance of training, it stated that the Air Force will develop the training content and the training schedule during the execution of the system migration. In addition, the plan provided general methods for informing users about transition tasks and workloads. However, the plan only documented high-level milestones for phase one of a three-phase migration. The plan also referred to additional documentation, which DOD did not provide in October 2023. As of January 2024, DOD stated that the additional related documentation, such as the Air Force DEAMS roadmap and training plan, remain under development and will be completed by the end of fiscal year 2025. We will continue to follow-up with DOD and update the status of this recommendation as department provides additional information.

DOD Financial Management: Air Force Needs to Improve Its System Migration Efforts

GAO-22-103636
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Air Force The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller) should develop a comprehensive strategy with appropriate performance metrics and consideration of a concept of operations, for its entire financial management systems modernization effort in support of the financial statement audit. (Recommendation 4)
Open – Partially Addressed
As of February 2024, the Air Force has partially addressed this recommendation. In February 2024, the Air Force provided a Closure Request Memo for this recommendation and a corrective action plan (CAP) update, along with a detailed summary of steps taken to accomplish the CAP. In addition, the Air Force submitted supporting documentation, such as the September 2021 Air Force Business Mission Area (BMA) Strategy Roadmap and the November 2021 BMA Strategy. The BMA Strategy defines specific goals and outcomes. However, the roadmap and strategy do not describe performance metrics for measuring the extent to which the Air Force is achieving intended outcomes, as called for by leading practices. The strategy does call for the development of performance metrics. Further, the Air Force documentation is focused on the BMA, which includes financial management systems, but the documentation does not clearly describe the relationship between the BMA strategy and a strategy for modernizing financial management systems. In addition, the Air Force did not provide a current concept of operations or demonstrate that the strategy considered a concept of operations as called for by this recommendation. We will continue to monitor the Air Force's actions to address this recommendation.

Sexual Assault: DOD and Coast Guard Should Ensure Laws Are Implemented to Improve Oversight of Key Prevention and Response Efforts

GAO-22-103973
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Air Force The Secretary of the Air Force should ensure all required information is included in the annual reports. (Recommendation 4)
Open – Partially Addressed
The Department of Defense concurred with this recommendation in March 2022. As of August 2023, the department had updated its data call to the military services and National Guard Bureau for the Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military (published in April 2023). We reviewed this report and identified that it included some required information we identified as missing from prior reports. However, it did not include all required information. We will review the next annual report when it is published.

Nuclear Weapons Sustainment: Budget Estimates Report Contains More Information than in Prior Fiscal Years, but Transparency Can Be Improved

GAO-17-557
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Air Force In order to assist Congress in comparing year-to-year cost estimates between joint reports, for future joint reports, the Secretary of the Air Force should provide information about any programmatic changes (i.e., programs being moved from one line item to another) in its estimates and include an explanation of the reasons for those changes and how those changes may affect year-to-year comparisons of the budget estimates.
Open – Partially Addressed
DOD concurred with our recommendation and the Air Force has taken some steps to identify instances of programmatic changes in its estimates. We will continue to monitor the Air Force's response to this recommendation as we review subsequent Joint Reports. As of August 2023, the Fiscal Year 2022 Joint Report has not been published. We will update the status of this recommendation once we are able to review the latest Joint Report.

Air Force: Enhanced Enterprise Risk Management and Internal Control Assessments Could Improve Accountability over Mission-Critical Assets

GAO-20-332
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Air Force The Secretary of the Air Force should require that developers of the policy and related guidance associated with designing the procedures for conducting OMB Circular No. A-123 assessments receive recurring training and are appropriately skilled in conducting internal control assessments and are familiar with Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government. (Recommendation 6)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. In April 2023, the Air Force stated that they updated policy and procedures to require enterprise risk management and internal control policy owners to receive training on OMB Circular A-123 requirements and annual updates. They also stated they provided detailed instructions for updating OMB Circular A-123 training materials annually to reflect current guidance from the GAO, OMB, and DOD. Additionally, they stated that annual training was updated to include specific roles, responsibilities, procedures, and templates for assessing internal controls over operations, as well as consideration for compliance objectives and training was refined to target specific audiences integral to managing risks and internal control. We reviewed the provided updates and found that the guidance does not require training for the developers of policy. We will continue to monitor efforts to address this recommendation.

GPS Modernization: Better Information and Detailed Test Plans Needed for Timely Fielding of Military User Equipment

GAO-22-105086
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Air Force The Secretary of the Air Force should finalize the Air Force's operational test plans for priority systems to ensure operational testing can occur once cards become available and that the services can field equipment in time to meet future operational scenarios. (Recommendation 7)
Open
DOD agreed with our recommendation. DOD provided information about development, integration, and testing schedules for the implementation of M-Code GPS capability for priority platforms across the military services. This information was derived from information in the database on progress towards implementation of M-Code maintained by the Office of the Chief Information Officer within the Department of Defense. We are conducting follow up analysis to validate the information and confirm that it aligns with our recommendation.
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