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Open Recommendations (783 total)

Ford-Class Aircraft Carrier: Follow-On Ships Need More Frequent and Accurate Cost Estimates to Avoid Pitfalls of Lead Ship

GAO-17-575
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense To improve insight into cost changes for individual ships in the Ford Class, the program office should prepare cost summary and funding summary sections for each individual ship in the class as part of the SAR for the overall Ford-Class program.
Open
DOD did not concur with our recommendation, stating that it currently provides progress reports to Congress on costs for Ford-class aircraft carriers. However, as we stated in our June 2017 report, grouping average unit costs for all Ford-class ships obscures individual ship cost growth and does not provide Congress with adequate transparency to monitor this over $51 billion program. As of August 2023, DOD continued to not concur with this recommendation. In June 2023, DOD released the implementation plan for the modernized Selected Acquisition Report and in August 2023 DOD officials told us the department does not plan to configure the underlying data to provide a per-ship cost summary in the new report. We maintain that including cost and funding sections for individual carriers in the new Selected Acquisition Reports is necessary to ensure Congress is informed on individual ship performance.

Military Personnel: Actions Needed to Better Position the Navy and the Marine Corps to Support Expanding Unmanned Systems Operations

GAO-18-162
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Chief of Naval Operations should clarify workforce planning policies to identify circumstances in which federal civilian employees and private sector contractors may serve in operational roles and what the benefits and limitations are of using federal civilians and private sector contractors as alternative workforces. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of August 2022, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness was working with the Navy to address this recommendation within its existing "Total Force Management" policies. At that time, DOD estimated that it would complete the recommendation by June 2023. However, as of August 2023, a DOD official stated that there was no updated information to provide on the recommendation status.

National Security: DOD Should Reevaluate Requirements for the Selective Service System

GAO-12-623
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense To help ensure that DOD and Congress have visibility over the necessity of the Selective Service System to meeting DOD's needs, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to establish a process of periodically reevaluating DOD's requirements for the Selective Service System in light of changing threats, operating environments, and strategic guidance.
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation and said that it would establish a process to review the mission and requirements for the Selective Service System. In August 2023, GAO staff met with OSD and Selective Service System staff to discuss the intent of this recommendations. OSD staff told us that they consider their requirements for the Selective Service System through their war planning and war gaming processes and have determined that current war plans do not have a requirement to use the draft. Selective Service System personnel told us that they are confident they can execute the current requirements, which were developed by DOD in 1994, if needed. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 established the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service (i.e., the Commission) to, among other things, review the military selective service process. The Commission is to submit a report to the President and Congress no later than March 2020 with recommendations concerning the need for a military draft and means by which to foster a greater ethos of public service among American youth. Further, the Commission was directed to conduct hearings and meetings open to the public in various locations throughout the country to provide maximum opportunity for public comment and participation in order to help develop its recommendations. In January 2019, the Commission released an Interim Report. The Interim Report shared what the Commission learned throughout its first year, explored options the Commission is considering increasing service participation among all Americans, and outlined issues involved in the Commission's review of the military selective service process. In March 2020, the Commission issued its final report, and it recommended that (1) the Congress require the Secretary of Defense to update the personnel requirements and timeline for obtaining draft inductees in the event of an emergency requiring mass mobilization and (2) the President direct the Secretary of Defense to include in future Quadrennial Defense Reviews and National Defense Strategies a section on the state of the Selective Service System and the ability of the United States to rapidly mobilize personnel in the event of an emergency. The Commission's report reinforced our recommendation. However, as of February 2022, DOD stated that the Department does not plan to take any further action on the recommendation stating that the Selective Service System is a separate entity within the Administration that the DoD has no control over. They further stated that DoD makes the practice of staying neutral on the use and function of the Selective Service. However, it is DOD's responsibility to develop its personnel requirements for the Selective Service System. We are not asking DOD to review the Selective Service System itself, but rather periodically evaluate its own requirements for the Selective Service System in light of changing threats, revisions to the force structure, and guidance. We continue to believe that DOD should establish a process to periodically review the mission and requirements of the Selective Service System per our recommendation and as recommended in the Commission's report.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness: DOD and Its Personnel Could Benefit from Additional Program Information

GAO-21-65
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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 issues guidance to DOD and military service officials, such as front-line managers and human resources employees, about how the PSLF program could be used as a tool for recruitment and retention to promote readiness. (Recommendation 5)
Open
The Department of Defense partially concurred with this recommendation. According to DOD, once an updated link to PSLF program information has been provided by Department of Education personnel and DOD has incorporated it into its benefits website, DOD's military and civilian personnel offices plan to disseminate a message to DOD's human resources community advising of the PSLF program and website and asking them to share these with their service recruiters, hiring managers, and employees. In September 2022, the Defense Civilian Personnel Advisory Services (DCPAS) updated its PSLF benefits webpage with a presentation from FSA on PSLF and a link to the Department of Education's online PSLF program information. DCPAS also provided a list of online resources related to PSLF to its civilian personnel policy council members for dissemination to human resource practitioners. As of December 2023, the agency has not taken additional action, particularly on potential use of the program as a tool for recruitment and retention. When the agency takes further action, we will update the status accordingly.

Defense Infrastructure: DOD Should Better Manage Risks Posed by Deferred Facility Maintenance

GAO-22-104481
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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 Acquisition & Sustainment, in coordination with the FSM Configuration/Support Panel, collects, assesses, and revises—as appropriate—the sustainment unit costs of facility analysis categories in which the average ages of the facilities exceed their expected lifespans. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DOD non-concurred with this recommendation. In its response to our draft report, DOD acknowledged that FSM does not adequately account for the age of facilities when estimating its annual facility sustainment funding requirements. DOD also stated that within the next 5 years it would no longer use FSM to determine its facility sustainment funding requirements, and for that reason it would be fiscally inappropriate to make further investments in FSM. DOD reiterated this response in December 2022. We agree with DOD that it should avoid investing resources in a system that will ultimately be obsolete. However, as noted in this report, DOD's FSM Configuration/Support Panel currently meets three to four times each year to review and update FSM's business rules and cost factors, including facility sustainment unit costs. DOD could use this existing process to collect, assess, and revise-as appropriate-the sustainment unit costs of facility analysis categories in which the average age of facilities exceeds their expected lifespan. Doing so would ensure that DOD more accurately accounts for the additional costs to sustain older facilities-29 percent of Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps buildings in use or in caretaker status have exceeded their expected lifespan-until FSM is retired. As such, we continue to believe our recommendation is valid, and will continue to monitor implementation of the recommendation and update the implementation status as warranted.

Business Systems: DOD Needs to Improve Performance Reporting and Cybersecurity and Supply Chain Planning

GAO-22-105330
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the Chief Information Officer to ensure that major IT business programs develop plans that address information and communication technology supply chain risk management, as appropriate. (Recommendation 3)
Open
In July 2022, the department stated that while components were not required to develop their respective information and communications technology supply chain risk management (ICT-SCRM) policies, DOD had laid the foundation for this National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53 Revision 5 requirement. The department also noted that ICT-SCRM requirements were being added to components' capability planning guidance for fiscal years 2025-29. In addition, the department stated that it was in the process of enhancing Risk Management Framework (RMF) guidance for the SCRM family of controls, tailoring guidance for component implementation. In September 2023, the department stated that, among other things, DOD continues to pursue the strategy to ensure programs are implementing ICT-SCRM through policy and RMF implementation. The department also provided an estimated completion date of December 2024 for addressing this recommendation. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.

Women in Special Operations: Improvements to Policy, Data, and Assessments Needed to Better Understand and Address Career Barriers

GAO-23-105168
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, in coordination with the Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command and the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, completes a comprehensive analysis of barriers regarding women in U.S. Special Operations Forces. (Recommendation 7)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of January 2024, the department has not provided a status update on its efforts to address this recommendation. To fully implement this recommendation, the department should complete a comprehensive analysis of barriers regarding women in U.S. Special Operations Forces. Once we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

K-12 Education: DOD Should Assess Whether Troops-to-Teachers is Meeting Program Goals

GAO-23-105992
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure DANTES establishes a mechanism to report relevant performance information and more fully assess the program's overall performance across grantees. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DOD disagreed with this recommendation. DOD stated that it does not have the resources to address this recommendation and would face difficulties building such resources and capacity. DOD noted that the NDAA for FY22 directed the agency to restart the program, but did not include an accompanying appropriation to operate the program through the July 1, 2027 sunset date. DOD said it interpreted Congress' intent to be supporting participants who already were in Troops-to-Teachers prior to DOD canceling the program (in FY21) until they complete their teacher certification programs. DOD said it continues to meet that intent. As of March 2024, we continue to believe this recommendation is warranted. The FY22 NDAA reinstated the Troops-to-Teachers program, leaving DOD to determine funding for it. Agencies need to understand the performance of their programs to operate them effectively and ensure their wise use of scarce federal resources. Even if DOD chooses to support only current participants in the program, it is important for DOD to use the data it collects and determine whether the program is meeting its stated goals, both at the grantee level and across grantees overall.

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: More Actions Needed to Explain Cost Growth and Support Engine Modernization Decision

GAO-23-106047
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment should manage F-35 engine and thermal management modernization as a separate program, with its own distinct cost, schedule, and performance baseline. (Recommendation 7)
Open
DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

F-35 Aircraft: DOD and the Military Services Need to Reassess the Future Sustainment Strategy

GAO-23-105341
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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 Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the F-35 Joint Program Office, reassesses the approach for the F-35's training and training support sustainment element, to determine: (1) whether the government or contractor should assume primary responsibility of the element for the Navy and Air Force, (2) what changes, if any, the Navy and Air Force should make to the leadership, responsibility, and oversight of specific sustainment activities, (3) what intellectual property the Navy and Air Force require to support any changes, including all critical technical data needs, their associated costs, and milestones to acquire the data, and (4) any Navy and Air Force resources needed to implement any changes. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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