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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
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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 establish a requirement for collecting, tracking, and reporting data on the use of borrowed military personnel and provide guidance to ensure that data collected are complete and accurate; if other special duty data are included, ensure that the tool contains a method to distinguish borrowed military personnel from other special duty data.
Open
The Army concurred with our recommendation and noted that it has an existing process for oversight and reporting of the use of soldiers replacing or converting functions previously performed by contractors and planned to develop a similar policy to address oversight on soldiers replacing or converting functions previously performed by civilians. The Army stated that language in draft Army Regulation AR 570-4 will address this recommendation by incorporating guidance for the utilization of military manpower. In October 2022, the Army expected that the revision to the Army Regulation would be completed in December 2022. In addition, the Army noted that the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act contained a provision requiring the military services to track the extent to which soldiers are used as borrowed military personnel. The Army noted that given this requirement, they will continue to monitor the relevant Army regulation and the actions, if any, the Army takes to address the Congressional requirement. They also noted that they are waiting of the Office of the Secretary of Defense to provide policy guidance on how and what kind of borrowed military personnel data to capture in order to satisfy the Congressional requirement and once received and implemented, the Army will provide their Semi-annual Readiness Brief (SARB) to Congress.

Military Readiness: Actions Needed to Further Implement Predictive Maintenance on Weapon Systems

GAO-23-105556
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should establish procedures and conduct ongoing monitoring and reporting of the results from predictive maintenance for major weapon systems. (Recommendation 13)
Open
The Department of the Army concurred with this recommendation. In January 2024, the Army stated it leverages the Predictive Logistics General Officer Steering Committee as the means to monitor ongoing predictive maintenance initiatives and reporting. Upon approval of the validated Army requirement through the Army Requirements Oversight Council, the Army will assess if changes are required to the oversight framework. When we confirm the actions the Army has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

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 Army The Secretary of the Army should evaluate the effectiveness of steps taken to improve SBIR award timeliness and take any necessary additional steps in order to consistently meet SBA award timeliness guidelines. (Recommendation 5)
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 Army was implementing several initiatives to improve SBIR award timeliness and meet all SBA award timeliness guidelines, including: establishing a centralized Army SBIR Contracting Center of Excellence (CCOE) for centralized execution of all SBIR awards; establishing simplified and streamlined proposal, review and contract package requirements to expedite awards; and leveraging all procurement flexibilities to improve SBIR award timeliness. The Army also provided the Memorandum of Understanding to establish the CCOE and other documentation stating that the CCOE was fully operational in March 2022--covering 80 percent of Army's SBIR awards with the intent to expand the coverage to the remainder of the Army's SBIR awards in fiscal year 2023. Additionally, the Army provided information stating that it had implemented a new proposal evaluation tool, which enables concurrent reviews. In December 2023, we obtained and analyzed publicly available Army SBIR 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 SBIR award timeliness in subsequent fiscal years to determine if actions the agency has taken have resulted in being able to consistently meet SBA's award timeliness guidelines.

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

GAO-21-337
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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 requires the consistent tracking of training on wartime medical skills for enlisted medical personnel. (Recommendation 12)
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
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should ensure that the Director of the Army National Guard, in coordination with the Army Combat Readiness Center, establishes a system of record for tracking the status of accident investigation recommendations through implementation. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Army concurred with this recommendation. In a corrective action plan provided to us in February 2024, Army officials shared plans to update the Army's mishap reporting system to have more comprehensive recommendation tracking. In the meantime, the Army stated it is manually tracking the recommendations. The Army estimates that these actions will be completed by the end of September 2024. By taking these actions, the Army will be able to track recommendations, no matter the component, through to implementation, as GAO recommended in March 2023.

Defense Transportation: The Army Should Take Action to Better Ensure Adequate Rail Support to Combatant Commanders

GAO-21-411
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should ensure that the Commander of the Army Materiel Command—the single manager for Army captive rail-fleet operations—requires a quality assurance program for the oversight of the condition of Army rail track, and implement such a program. The quality assurance program should at a minimum ensure the timely and complete inspection of rail track, the appropriate use of waivers for track use, the tracking and monitoring of repairs, the prioritization of rail improvement efforts, and periodic reporting of updated track conditions to decision makers. (Recommendation 3)
Open
As of December 2021, DOD concurred with this recommendation. In its response to our recommendation, DOD stated that AMC will program resources for the immediate and future repairs of deficiencies identified through IMCOM's QAQC oversight program. IMCOM will provide a comprehensive rail summary during its Tri-Annual update with AMC. AMC will also incorporate this as a recurring topic during the bi-weekly AMC Commander's Update until all recommendations are closed and monitoring going forward. To fully address this recommendation, DOD needs to fully implement this corrective action. We met with Army officials in November 2023 and those officials are currently providing documentation regarding the Army's efforts to address GAO recommendations.

Unwanted Sexual Behavior: Improved Guidance, Access to Care, and Training Needed to Better Address Victims' Behavioral Health Needs

GAO-23-105381
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should ensure that Army guidance on involuntary officer and enlisted administrative separations is modified to require that the Army's standardized separation notification correspondence includes information about the general or flag officer review for victims of sexual assault. (Recommendation 13)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. To fully implement GAO's recommendation, the Army needs to modify its guidance on involuntary officer and enlisted administrative separations to require that the Army's standardized separation notification correspondence includes information about the general or flag officer review for victims of sexual assault.

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

GAO-22-104673
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should establish a mechanism to ensure that Sexual Assault Response Coordinators have direct and unimpeded access to the installation commander, as well as the immediate commander of both the servicemember victim and alleged servicemember offender, without going through layers in the chain of command. This could be accomplished by, for example, providing Sexual Assault Response Coordinators with the requisite designation or categorization needed to facilitate direct communication with their commander. (Recommendation 3)
Open
The Army concurred with this recommendation. In December 2022, the Army requested closure of this recommendation as implemented. Specifically, the Army stated that it had published refined or clarifying guidance to meet this recommendation in Army Execute Order (EXORD) 126-22, and added SARC access to commanders on its Organizational Inspection Program (OIP) checklist. Further, the Army stated that non-compliance with this requirement would be reported through the Major Command to Headquarters, Department of the Army to ensure enforcement. However, we reviewed EXORD 126-22 and determined that it did not include additional or clarifying language since our report was published. Specifically, the EXORD directs the designation of a Lead SARC who reports directly to the senior commander and supervises all other SARCs. This change does remove SARCs from the immediate chain of command, but it does not ensure that all SARCs will have direct and unimpeded access to the commanders of the units they serve, and the commanders of the victim and alleged subject, as required in DOD policy. Further, this item was not included on the draft OIP checklist we reviewed, and the Army did not provide documentation on how non-compliance would be managed. In January 2024, the Army stated that it plans to implement this recommendation by Dec. 31, 2024. In order to implement this recommendation, the Army should provide documentation of the requirement that SARCs have direct and unimpeded access to the commander of the units they serve, as well as the immediate commanders of victims and alleged subjects, and documentation of a mechanism for ensuring such access. For example, the Army could include appropriate language implementing this recommendation in the consolidated SHARP regulation currently in review, along with inclusion on the OIP checklist and documentation of how non-compliance will be managed. We will continue to monitor the Army's efforts to implement this recommendation, and will provide updated information as appropriate.

Military Readiness: Comprehensive Approach Needed to Address Service Member Fatigue and Manage Related Efforts

GAO-24-105917
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should assign leadership responsible for DOD component head responsibilities related to fatigue listed in DOD Instruction 1010.10. (Recommendation 3)
Open
We will update the status of this recommendation when DOD provides its 180-day letter (expected in fall 2024).

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 issue guidance that includes procedures for tracking the amount of time soldiers are used as borrowed military personnel.
Open
The Army concurred with our recommendation and noted that it would be unreasonable to require tracking the amount of time soldiers are used as borrowed military personnel because it would be overly burdensome and that Army Regulation 570-4 allows for the use of soldiers for training purposes or for temporary functions. The Army indicated that its draft of the updated regulation limits the use of borrowed military personnel to 90 days per soldier per calendar year and as such there is no need to track the amount of time soldiers are used in this capacity. The Army also indicated that a method to track such data would be expensive and time consuming. However, the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) contained a provision requiring the military services to track the extent to which soldiers are used as borrowed military personnel. Given this requirement we will continue to monitor the relevant Army regulation and the actions, if any, the Army takes to address the Congressional requirement. In October 2022, the Army indicated that the revision of Army Regulation 570-4 is scheduled for completion in Dec 2022 and will incorporate Guidance for the Utilization of Military Manpower. Additionally, the Army was waiting for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to provide policy guidance on how and what kind of borrowed military personnel data should be captured to satisfy the NDAA provision.
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