Skip to main content

Department of the Army

Jump To:

Recent Reports

View More Reports

Open Recommendations (136 total)

Military Personnel: Army Needs a Requirement for Capturing Data and Clear Guidance on Use of Military for Civilian or Contractor Positions

GAO-15-349
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army To better position the Army to determine the extent to which it is continuing to use borrowed military personnel and to enhance the Army's ability to utilize its total workforce efficiently and effectively as it moves forward, the Secretary of the Army should revise Army Regulation 570-4 to include guidance to senior commanders for approving the use of soldiers for positions or functions outside their occupational specialty on a rotational basis for an enduring period.
Open
The Army partially concurred with our recommendation. In their comments the Army noted that it has issued guidance establishing the appropriate use of military manpower and was in the process of incorporating this guidance into Army Regulation 570-4. As of October 2022, the Army indicated that the updated regulation will provide guidance on when soldiers can be used for borrowed military personnel. Army officials expected that the updated regulation would be published by December 2022.

Servicemembers Transitioning to Civilian Life: DOD Can Better Leverage Performance Information to Improve Participation in Counseling Pathways

GAO-23-104538
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army, in coordination with the Secretary of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, should better leverage TAP performance information on 2-day class attendance to develop and implement a corrective action plan for improving attendance, as appropriate, particularly for servicemembers deemed to require maximum transition support. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation and, in January 2024, described ongoing efforts to address it. The Army reported that it plans to establish quarterly reporting of 2-day class attendance and to update TAP data tracking and reporting systems, if necessary. The estimated completion date for these actions is June 2024. We will consider closing the recommendation once the Army provides documentation of the corrective actions taken along with documentation that it used TAP performance information on 2-day class attendance to develop its corrective action plan--especially for servicemembers deemed to require maximum transition support (tier 3).

Sexual Harassment and Assault: The Army Should Take Steps to Enhance Program Oversight, Evaluate Effectiveness, and Identify Reporting Barriers

GAO-22-104673
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should ensure that the Director of the Army SHARP Program publishes or directly links all relevant resources to assist commanders in implementing their SHARP programs in a single, easily accessible location, such as the SHARP Learning Portal, and comprehensively publicizes the list to commanders so that existing resources are readily available and easily accessible when needed. (Recommendation 4)
Open – Partially Addressed
The Army concurred with this recommendation. In December 2022, the Army requested closure of this recommendation as implemented. Specifically, the Army added a specific "Commanders Resources" page to the SHARP website which includes a number of relevant resources or links directly to such resources. Further, the Army stated that it would highlight these resources in all pre-command courses and utilize communication plans to ensure command teams are aware of these resources, but did not provide details or documentation of these communication plans. While the Army has taken steps to publish or directly link all relevant resources to assist commanders in implementing their SHARP programs on its new "Commanders Resources" page, it has not developed a plan to comprehensively publicize the page. In January 2024, the Army stated that it is working to develop a communication plan and expects to complete it by July 31, 2024. In order to implement this recommendation, the Army should develop and provide documentation of its plan to comprehensively publicize the "Commanders Resources" page. We will continue to monitor actions the Army has taken in response to this recommendation and will provide updated information as appropriate.

Defense Health Care: Actions Needed to Define and Sustain Wartime Medical Skills for Enlisted Personnel

GAO-21-337
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should ensure that the Surgeon General of the Army establishes performance goals and targets for the completion of training on wartime medical skills for enlisted medical occupations and tracks performance toward achieving the goals and targets. (Recommendation 13)
Open
The Army concurred with this recommendation and stated in a November 2023 status update that it was taking steps to implement this action with an estimated completion date of January 31, 2024.

National Guard Helicopters: Additional Actions Needed to Prevent Accidents and Improve Safety

GAO-23-105219
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of the Army should ensure the Chief of Staff of the Army, in coordination with the Director of the Army National Guard, updates safety or operational guidance to establish a process to continuously evaluate and update operational risk management worksheets for Army National Guard helicopter units to reflect relevant safety information such as accident data, hazard reporting, and unit culture surveys. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Army concurred with this recommendation. In a corrective action plan provided to us in February 2024, Army officials noted that they intend to update Army Regulation 385-10 "The Army Safety Program" to reflect the need for a well-defined process for continuous evaluation of operational risk management practices that is informed by relevant safety data. The Army estimates that these actions will be completed by the end of December 2024. By taking these actions, the Army will be able to ensure that risk management worksheets reflect relevant and up-to-date safety information, as GAO recommended in March 2023.

Small Business Research Programs: Agencies Should Further Improve Award Timeliness

GAO-22-104677
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should evaluate the effectiveness of steps taken to improve STTR award timeliness and take any necessary additional steps in order to consistently meet SBA award timeliness guidelines. (Recommendation 6)
Open
In its February 2022 letter responding to our report, DOD concurred with this recommendation. According to the letter, the Department of the Army was implementing several initiatives to improve STTR award timeliness and meet all SBA award timeliness guidelines, including: establishing simplified and streamlined proposal review and contract package requirements to expedite awards and leveraging all procurement flexibilities to improve STTR award timeliness. Furthermore, the Army provided additional documentation stating that it intends to expand its SBIR Contracting Center of Excellence (CCOE) for centralized execution of all SBIR awards to also include all of the Army's STTR awards in FY 2023. As of March 2022, the Army stated it had not yet evaluated the effectiveness of previous steps taken to improve STTR award timeliness, and was awaiting the outcome of the centralized contracting effort for SBIR awards to determine how this change affects award timeliness. In December 2023, we obtained and analyzed publicly available Army STTR award data for FY22. Our analysis indicated that the Army did not meet SBA's award timeliness guidelines in FY22. Further, in combination with prior fiscal years, the Army 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 Army's STTR 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.

Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps: Actions Needed to Better Monitor Diversity Progress

GAO-23-105857
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should develop quantifiable ROTC diversity goals, such as applicant pool goals, that aid in the evaluation of Army efforts to recruit a diverse workforce. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Army concurred with this recommendation. In October 2023, the Army stated that it acknowledges the benefits of having a diverse cadet population for both ROTC, as well as for the Army overall. To address the recommendation, the Army stated that it will establish a working group to identify a comparison group which will be used to establish targets for desired Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (SROTC) applicants and first-year Army SROTC enrollment, and initiate analysis towards reaching these targets. The Army further stated a desire to establish quantifiable ROTC participation and accession targets which are aligned with higher-level Department of Defense diversity objectives; therefore, once OSD's directed common comparison group as identified and instituted under recommendation #2 is established, the Army will adjust these goals and targets as necessary to aid the Army in its quantifiable evaluation of SROTC diverse workforce contributions - with a focus on achieving uniformity of the demographic makeup of applicants and first-year cadets as compared to the defined comparison group. The Army has an estimated completion date of October 1, 2024, for these actions.

Sexual Harassment and Assault: The Army Should Take Steps to Enhance Program Oversight, Evaluate Effectiveness, and Identify Reporting Barriers

GAO-22-104673
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should design an oversight structure in accordance with existing DOD guidance for implementation of recommendations stemming from the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military. The oversight structure should also: (1) include a mechanism for comprehensive oversight of SHARP programs at the installation and command level, to include visibility over all areas of program implementation, such as inspection results, funding, and staffing; (2) direct that the SHARP Program Office is structured so as to enforce commander accountability for program implementation; and (3) ensure that the SHARP Program Office has adequate personnel resources to carry out its oversight responsibilities. (Recommendation 5)
Open
The Army concurred with this recommendation. In January 2024, the Army provided an update on this recommendation. Specifically, the Army stated that it is in the process of restructuring the SHARP program, adding additional positions at the HQDA SHARP Program level, establishing an Army Senior Leader governance, and building new resource management tools and processes. It expects to fully implement this recommendation by the end of calendar year 2024. We will continue to monitor Army actions in response to this recommendation, and will provide updated information as appropriate.

Military Justice: Actions Needed to Help Ensure Success of Judge Advocate Career Reforms

GAO-24-106165
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should ensure that the Army Judge Advocate General develops and implements a strategy to communicate the establishment of and service leadership support for the military justice career path. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Military Justice: Actions Needed to Help Ensure Success of Judge Advocate Career Reforms

GAO-24-106165
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should issue guidance to require the inclusion of judge advocates with relevant professional experience, such as a participant in the Army's military justice career path, on judge advocate promotion boards. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
View More Recommendations

Related Pages