text: Defense Inventory: DOD Could Improve Total Asset Visibility Initiative With Results Act Framework (Letter Report, 04/12/99, GAO/NSIAD-99-40). Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) implementation of its Total Asset Visibility (TAV) initiative, focusing on: (1) the difficulty in determining the status of the initiative's implementation; (2) planning weaknesses that affect the initiative's implementation; and (3) strategies for addressing those weaknesses. GAO noted that: (1) DOD lacks an adequate Departmentwide management framework for providing information to clearly determine the progress made in realizing TAV initiative goals; (2) while some component and theater-specific asset tracking capabilities are reported to be operating, Departmentwide information on progress in achieving TAV initiative goals is minimal; (3) although implementing improved asset visibility is a high-priority objective, DOD cannot clearly understand the extent to which it is achieving the objectives of having timely, accurate information on requisitions and assets and access to DOD assets; (4) along with the unclear picture of the initiative's status, planning is inadequate at the strategic and implementation levels; (5) DOD does not have a Departmentwide TAV strategic plan to show how the various TAV initiatives contribute to DOD's goals for the initiative; (6) additionally, while DOD has an implementation plan, the plan has a number of key weaknesses; (7) it does not describe how TAV will be integrated into Department work processes to realize the goals set for the TAV initiative; (8) as a result, there is confusion over who is to use TAV and how it is to be used; (9) at some locations the system is being installed but not used, according to a component manager; (10) the plan also does not identify needed resources and does not address Departmentwide problems with systems that are critical to the successful implementation of the TAV initiative; (11) the initiative's implementation problems have largely resulted from long-standing management issues that have hindered other major management initiatives; (12) these issues include cultural resistance to change, service parochialism, the lack of outcome-oriented goals and performance measures, and the lack of management accountability; (13) resistance to changing from reliance on just-in-case inventory approaches to reliance on just-in-time inventory is a significant challenge for DOD in its approach to inventory management; and (14) this new way of doing business requires timely and accurate information about quantities and location of items and a willingness by the item holders to transfer them to meet the priority needs of others. --------------------------- Indexing Terms ----------------------------- REPORTNUM: NSIAD-99-40 TITLE: Defense Inventory: DOD Could Improve Total Asset Visibility Initiative With Results Act Framework DATE: 04/12/99 SUBJECT: Military materiel Military inventories Spare parts Inventory control systems Internal controls Logistics Strategic planning Federal property management Data integrity IDENTIFIER: Y2K DOD Total Asset Visibility Initiative Army Total Asset Visibility System ****************************************************************** ** This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a ** ** GAO report. 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For further details, please ** ** send an e-mail message to: ** ** ** ** <[email protected]> ** ** ** ** with the message 'info' in the body. ** ****************************************************************** cover1+2.book GAO United States General Accounting Office Report to Congressional Requesters April 1999 DEFENSE INVENTORY DOD Could Improve Total Asset Visibility Initiative With Results Act Framework GAO/NSIAD-99-40 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 United States General Accounting Office Washington, D. C. 20548 Lett er Page 1 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory GAO National Security and International Affairs Division Lett er B-278430 Letter April 12, 1999 The Honorable Christopher Shays Chairman The Honorable Rod R. Blagojevich Ranking Minority Member Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and International Relations Committee on Government Reform House of Representatives During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm the logistics pipeline was clogged by thousands of duplicate requisitions and inadequately identified cargo containers. Logisticians could not find information about the status of requisitions, and the contents of over half the 40,000 large containers of equipment shipped in theater could not be readily identified. As a result, the logistics presence was much larger than was needed; according to the Army Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, better asset tracking could have saved $2 billion. In response to this problem, the Department of Defense (DOD) renewed its emphasis on implementing the Total Asset Visibility (TAV) initiative 1 for tracking equipment, supplies, and spare parts as well as requisitions on a continuous basis. DOD expects the TAV initiative to (1) resolve wartime logistics management problems encountered in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and (2) improve its inventory management by supporting transfers of assets within and across components. The initiative is to cover all DOD assets including secondary inventory 2 and ammunition that are in storage, in processing, and in transit, along with accurate information on the status of requisitions. The TAV initiative is expected to access information from over 100 component logistics systems, including component TAV systems such as the Army TAV, which are supplied data from many other lower level systems. Although several target dates for implementing TAV have been missed, DOD now expects to have timely and 1 In commenting on a draft of this report, DOD officials stated that TAV has been referred to as a program for convenience. In view of DOD's comments, we modified our report to describe TAV as an initiative, although TAV is described as a program in DOD's Government Performance and Results Act Performance Plan for fiscal year 2000 in the Secretary of Defense 1999 Annual Report to the President and the Congress. 2 Secondary inventory includes spare parts, clothing, and medical supplies to support DOD operating forces worldwide. B-278430 Page 2 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory accurate intraservice and interservice information on and access to 90 percent of its assets by 2000 and 100 percent of its assets by 2004. As your Subcommittee requested, we reviewed DOD's implementation of its TAV initiative. This review is one in a series that we are doing to address high- risk inventory management problems at DOD. 3 Specifically, this report discusses (1) the difficulty in determining the status of the initiative's implementation, (2) planning weaknesses that affect the initiative's implementation, and (3) strategies for addressing those weaknesses. Results in Brief DOD lacks an adequate Departmentwide management framework for providing information to clearly determine the progress made in realizing TAV initiative goals. While some component and theater- specific asset tracking capabilities are reported to be operating, Departmentwide information on progress in achieving TAV initiative goals is minimal. Consequently, although implementing improved asset visibility is a high priority objective, DOD cannot clearly understand the extent to which it is achieving the objectives of having timely, accurate information on requisitions and assets and access to DOD assets. Along with the unclear picture of the initiative's status, planning is inadequate at the strategic and implementation levels. DOD does not have a Departmentwide TAV strategic plan to show how the various TAV initiatives contribute to DOD's goals for the initiative. Additionally, while DOD has an implementation plan, the plan has a number of key weaknesses. It does not describe how TAV will be integrated into Department work processes to realize the goals set for the TAV initiative. As a result, there is confusion over who is to use TAV and how it is to be used. At some locations the system is being installed but not used, according to a component manager. The plan also does not identify needed resources and does not address Departmentwide problems with systems that are critical to the successful implementation of the TAV initiative. 3 In 1990, we began a special effort to review and report on the federal program areas that we identified as high risk because of vulnerabilities to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. This effort, which was supported by the Senate Committee on Government Affairs and the House Committee on Government Reform, brought a much- needed focus to problems that were costing the government billions of dollars. We identified DOD inventory management as high risk in our 1992, 1995, 1997, and 1999 high- risk reports. B-278430 Page 3 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory The initiative's implementation problems have largely resulted from long- standing management issues that have hindered other major management initiatives. These issues include cultural resistance to change, service parochialism, the lack of outcome- oriented goals and performance measures, and the lack of management accountability. Resistance to changing from reliance on just- in- case inventory approaches to reliance on just- in- time inventory is a significant challenge for DOD in its approach to inventory management. This new way of doing business requires timely and accurate information about quantities and locations of items and a willingness by the item holders to transfer them to meet the priority needs of others. To improve Department management and implementation of the TAV initiative, we are recommending that the Secretary of Defense develop a Departmentwide strategic plan and associated component implementation plans that would be based on the outcome- oriented principles of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (the Results Act) and the Clinger- Cohen Act of 1996. Background The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics) is responsible for the Departmentwide TAV initiative, and the Director, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), is charged as Executive Agent to coordinate asset tracking initiatives across the services and DOD. 4 The 1996 DOD- wide TAV implementation plan used for implementing TAV sets out initiative goals such as providing the capability to identify the location and status of assets and requisitions Departmentwide. The Joint TAV Office is responsible for providing useful data on assets to customers across the services. Two service components have formal TAV programs (the Army and the Navy), and other components are working to support the Departmentwide TAV initiative. (See app. III for detailed information on the roles and efforts of TAV offices.) TAV has been cited in several Department planning documents as a critical initiative for improving logistics. The TAV initiative is cited as a requirement for satisfying the needs of logistics customers and fundamental to realizing the logistics vision in the 1998 DOD Logistics Strategic Plan. The TAV initiative is cited in DOD's Quadrennial Defense 4 DLA's role as Executive Agent was transferred from the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics on June 1, 1998. B-278430 Page 4 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Review report for supporting logistics improvements. It is also referred to in the 1997 Defense Reform Initiative Report as committing DOD to provide total visibility of equipment, supplies, and spare parts on a continuous basis. In asset management plans, such as DOD's 1998 Logistics Strategic Plan and in Joint Vision 2010 (DOD's blueprint for future joint operations), TAV is identified as an enabling technology to support deployable supply and maintenance information systems. The TAV initiative is also prominent in DOD's 1998 Annual Report to the President and the Congress, and the Results Act Performance Plan in the 1999 Annual Report sets a goal of 90- percent visibility of and access to DOD materiel assets by 2000 while resupplying deployed troops and, at the same time, reducing the average order to receipt time of assets by 50 percent. This plan is required by the Results Act, which states that agencies' performance plans should generally include (1) performance goals; (2) an expression of the goals in an objective, quantifiable, and measurable form; (3) a description of the operational processes, skills, and technology and the resources required; (4) performance indicators; (5) a basis for comparing actual results with the performance goals; and (6) a description of the means used to verify and validate measured values. Initiative Status in Realizing TAV Goals is Not Clear While DOD has established some general measures for determining the status of TAV implementation, these measures do not account for critical elements needed to realize most TAV initiative goals. Additionally, the established measures are vague and provide only general indicators of the progress that is being made. Further, data collected for those measures that were established have a number of weaknesses and are likely not good indicators of progress toward meeting Department goals set for TAV. As a consequence there is insufficient data to precisely determine the status of the TAV initiative's progress toward meeting its Departmentwide goals. The current overall goals of the TAV initiative are to provide (1) timely and accurate information on the location, condition, and identity of equipment and supplies at any point from asset origin to final destination, as well as the location of military personnel and units, and (2) the ability to use this information to improve the Department's logistics practices. To accomplish these high- level Departmentwide goals, the 1996 TAV implementation plan sets forth a number of areas TAV needed to address, including (1) the tracking of requisitions; (2) the ability to locate assets in process, in storage, and in transit; and (3) improvement to logistics management within theaters of operation. However, the plan did not identify specific ways to measure the progress being made or to determine B-278430 Page 5 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory the status of efforts to realize the overall TAV goals and the areas that needed to be addressed. Current Department baselines for assessing the status of the TAV initiative meeting Department goals do not account for the full range of targets defined in the 1996 TAV implementation plan. For the TAV initiative, DOD is not, on a Departmentwide basis, measuring progress or determining the status of most of the areas the 1996 TAV implementation plan was to address; areas not measured include the tracking of requisitions, assets in process and in transit, and the improvement of logistics management within theaters of operation. However, DOD officials have stated that progress was being made in these areas. Also, for the TAV initiative on a Departmentwide basis, DOD has reported that inventory managers were able to track 94 percent of their secondary inventories in storage and had the capability to access 80 percent of those assets. These results were reported as a National Performance Review (NPR) performance indicator to support streamlining the DOD infrastructure in DOD's Results Act Performance Plan for fiscal year 2000. However, these measures not only exclude those inventories in process and in transit (stated goals of the TAV initiative) but also do not account for critical initiative elements such as the timeliness and accuracy of the data. Components are also inconsistent in setting baselines for measuring progress toward improving the management of assets in storage. Components defined their own baselines by selecting in- storage inventories for measuring progress toward realizing TAV goals, and the in- storage inventories they selected varied by component, which made overall measurement of progress meaningless. For example, contrary to Department TAV goals, major quantities of in- storage inventory handled by weapons system managers were not included in one component's computation. While the Department could provide examples of activities that supported TAV initiative goals and objectives, it was unable to aggregate component results in measures that show progress toward meeting TAV initiative goals. For example, DOD officials recognized that providing inventory managers the capability to redistribute assets using the TAV system was more important than only tracking assets, and components had examples of how they had redistributed some assets using TAV. However, there were no measures of how the TAV system was being used to support asset redistributions, and components lacked such measures. Agency officials stated that each component has the capability to redistribute assets within its own component and that the components were working jointly to use TAV to move toward redistributing assets across components. However, B-278430 Page 6 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory agency officials could not provide reports or information indicating how TAV system benefits were being measured or reported within components. Weaknesses in Planning Have Hindered TAV Implementation Prior DOD efforts designed to achieve TAV have not been realized, and the TAV initiative continues to experience delays. Planning for the TAV initiative was inadequate at both the strategic and implementation levels. DOD did not develop a strategic plan for the TAV initiative, and although two implementation plans have been developed, with the most current being approved in 1996, they do not address all the planning elements that are necessary for ensuring the timely completion of the TAV initiative. DOD recognized the need for a TAV strategic plan and issued a Joint TAV strategic plan dated January 1999. However, the plan focuses only on TAV information- sharing within theaters of operation rather than on ensuring that components are meeting Department goals set for the TAV initiative, such as reducing the logistics presence in theaters of operation and inventory levels in component supply depots. Since a Departmentwide strategic plan did not exist at the time of our review, we focused our review of planning efforts on DOD's 1996 implementation plan. DOD Did Not Realize Its Goals in Prior TAV Efforts The TAV initiative has evolved from other DOD attempts to improve visibility over its assets, in recognition that such visibility is the foundation for improving inventory management and other logistics functions. In 1972, DOD set a goal to improve visibility over its inventories by 1980, but it did not achieve that goal. Later, during the Persian Gulf War, DOD's problems with inventory management were highlighted when thousands of duplicate orders were placed because operational units had inadequate visibility over the status of their requisitions, and large amounts of material shipped to the theater were unavailable to U. S. forces because the location of the material was unknown. As a result of the Persian Gulf War logistics problems, in 1992 DOD again started developing an initiative to improve asset visibility. This initiative's goal was to have total asset visibility by 1995, but this attempt was also unsuccessful. A new plan to realize TAV was started in 1995; the plan was approved by the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Technology) in May 1996. See appendix IV for a list of Department attempts to improve asset visibility since 1972. Implementation Plan Lacks Key Elements The implementation plan approved in 1996 is not a broadly focused Departmentwide plan for the TAV initiative. This most current B-278430 Page 7 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory implementation plan does not address the integration of TAV in component work processes, describe resource requirements, or describe how systems issues will be addressed. DOD Lacks a Plan for Guiding the Integration of TAV Into Work Processes Critical elements describing how the TAV initiative will be used are lacking in the TAV implementation plan. The TAV plan does not set forth how the system will be used by the components in their day- to- day work processes, financial reporting, and the sharing of assets among commands and components. The TAV implementation plan does not describe how the TAV system will be integrated into components' work processes to support DOD's inventory management improvement targets, such as reducing inventory levels and minimizing the logistics presence in theaters of operation by providing more accurate information about inventory levels. Component TAV officials expressed concern that the 1996 TAV plan does not satisfactorily define users or user requirements and does not describe why users need the system to include the information. For example, one component official stated that the TAV capability was installed at some sites to support theater operations, but it was not clear how the system was to be used after it had been installed. As a result, according to this official, the capability was not used. Component managers also stated that the plan should clearly define the information that is to be made available to the user, why the information is needed, how it should be used, and how often it should be updated. Further, personnel at the March 1998 TAV users' conference stated that DOD needs to develop user requirements, clarify those requirements, and tie those requirements to the data that is being requested from the components. The plan also does not set forth how TAV systems will integrate with and/ or support other management information systems, such as financial management systems and reporting. Accurate reporting of inventory assets has been a long- standing problem for DOD, and data from TAV systems could be used to support reporting systems in the Department. DOD will overlook an opportunity to address financial reporting requirements if it implements a TAV system without addressing financial reporting requirements, such as accounting for assets on ships. 5 Aligning 5 Navy Financial Management: Improved Management of Operating Materials and Supplies Could Yield Significant Savings (GAO/AIMD- 96-94, Aug. 16, 1996) and Financial Reporting: DOD's Fiscal Year 1996 Financial Statements Inventory Reporting Does Not Meet Standards (GAO/AIMD-98-16, Dec. 24, 1997). B-278430 Page 8 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory financial systems is required and a critical element in accounting for operating material and supplies. Such requirements have not been defined in the current TAV plan, nor have they been agreed to by components. Further, the plan does not set forth how TAV systems would be used to support the sharing of assets within component commands and/ or among components, even though asset sharing is an overall goal of the initiative. Some supporting component systems have been aligned to support limited asset transfers among components, and a procedure for managing reparable item transfers has been approved by relevant DOD organizations. However, DOD components have not made all componentwide system changes necessary so that TAV will support the improved management of all inventory items, including ammunition and medical supplies, and they had no clear time line for making those changes. Resource Requirements Are Not Identified The implementation plan does not provide an overall estimate of the funding necessary to accomplish TAV- related projects. Funding for the TAV initiative is contained in the components' and the Joint TAV Office's budgets. However, there is no estimate of the total resources expended thus far or future funding requirements. Without an estimate of required funding, it is impossible for DOD to determine the priority the components are giving to TAV requirements or how those requirements rank in relation to other funding priorities within the components' budgets. According to agency officials, the components were giving important TAV- related work (such as maintenance on systems that support TAV) lower priority than other competing initiatives within components. For example, components are responsible for ensuring that information on their assets at lower level inventory sites is timely and accurate and that appropriate changes are made to systems to enable the provision of asset information to the TAV system. According to the Department's TAV implementation plan, this requirement was originally scheduled to be met by March 1997; however, the completion date of this important element of TAV is currently not clear. Although some systems maintenance, such as Year 2000 concerns, merits a high priority in Department resource allocations, component officials stated that funding commitments have slipped because component commands gave a lower priority to needed TAV system modifications, thus delaying the input of information into the TAV system. While these decisions may well have been appropriate, DOD managers lacked the information to understand how these priority decisions would ultimately affect TAV implementation. According to one component official, unless funds are provided specifically to support each B-278430 Page 9 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory component's part in the TAV initiative, the Departmentwide TAV effort may fail because the components are giving funding priority to their own initiatives. Departmentwide Systems Issues Are Not Addressed The 1996 TAV implementation plan does not address how several key Departmentwide systems issues will be addressed as they relate to the TAV initiative. These issues relate to data quality, systems security, and the Year 2000 problem. 6 While we recognize that responsibility for resolving these issues is outside of the TAV initiative management's responsibility (which is monitoring progress with Departmentwide TAV requirements and coordinating action with relevant components), we believe the plan should indicate how DOD will address problems that can affect the success of the initiative. The 1996 TAV implementation plan describes data integrity as critical to the success of the initiative. The Defense In- transit Visibility Integration Plan, a part of the TAV initiative, also describes data quality and timeliness as a challenge in providing adequate information on in- transit assets. Data quality problems remain unresolved in TAV supporting systems. At a March 1998 TAV conference, TAV users reported that they lacked confidence in TAV data and recommended that Departmentwide TAV managers develop procedures to measure data accuracy and to provide such procedures to TAV users. Department TAV officials said that while they were considering the development of a data quality monitoring process, they would continue to rely on the components to ensure that data is of sufficient quality for TAV system users. Only the Army had implemented a data quality monitoring process for its TAV data sources, in response to concerns raised by users of Army asset data. Improving data quality is particularly important to TAV initiative users because they will be relying on this data to redistribute assets from one location to another. Departmentwide and component TAV initiatives were to be supplied data from many component logistics systems from worldwide DOD locations. Security is another major issue for TAV users and data providers. We reported previously that DOD information indicated that hackers had gained access to its computer systems in 65 percent of 250,000 hacker 6 The Year 2000 computer systems problem results from the inability of computer programs to interpret the correct century at the Year 2000 from a date that has only the last two digits to indicate the year. B-278430 Page 10 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory attacks in 1995. 7 These attacks included logistics systems that feed data to TAV systems. While DOD has taken some steps to address problems with systems security, its 1996 TAV plan does not include an approach or strategy for protecting computer systems that could be vulnerable to data loss, destruction, or unwanted browsing. The TAV system uses approaches that have known vulnerabilities, such as Internet- based applications. Users and TAV initiative managers have expressed concerns about possible breaches to security in TAV systems. Through security breaches, unauthorized users could gain access to critical aspects of component activities such as the type, quantity, and condition of weapon systems and ammunition in component locations. Moreover, DOD has not defined in its plan what information will be classified or how it will be restricted from unauthorized users. While we believe that creation of a systems security initiative only for TAV would not be appropriate, TAV plans should describe how components such as the Defense Information Systems Agency will address and resolve these TAV- related security problems and provide time frames for addressing and resolving them. Agency officials have stated that the Year 2000 problem is serious, and they agreed that the problem is not addressed in TAV plans. For one element of the TAV initiative the Joint TAV initiative DOD developed a draft Joint TAV Year 2000 Contingency Plan dated January 29, 1999. However, the plan does not provide assurance that interim plans have been developed in the event of a problem with critical systems. For example, the plan states that Army TAV is the only TAV source for information on Army retail stocks; however, the plan does not describe any alternative plans for obtaining information on Army retail stocks. We have reported that interim plans are particularly important if an initiative such as TAV depends on the successful operation of other systems. 8 The TAV system will access information from over 100 component logistics systems, which are built on many other lower- level systems. If a number of these systems were disabled by Year 2000 problems, the scope of information available in the TAV system could be dramatically affected. For example, according to an Air Force official, if the two automated systems containing most of the Air Force's asset information were to cease operations, the Air Force would still be able to track its assets through its lower level systems, but the TAV 7 Information Security: Computer Attacks at Department of Defense Pose Increasing Risks (GAO/AIMD- 96-84, May 22, 1996). 8 Logistics Planning: Opportunities for Enhancing DOD's Logistics Strategic Plan (GAO/NSIAD-97-28, Dec. 18, 1996). B-278430 Page 11 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory system would lose track of the assets. Air Force supply inventories were valued at over $27 billion as of September 30, 1997. 9 In prior work, we have reported that DOD lacks key management and oversight controls to enforce good management practices, direct resources, and establish a complete picture of its progress with fixing systems. We have also pointed out that DOD lacks assurance that components will be prepared should their systems miss the Year 2000 deadline or fail unexpectedly in operations. 10 While DOD has since taken action to better address the Year 2000 challenge, the TAV implementation plan does not describe how the initiative will ensure that component systems will be Year 2000 compliant and describe alternatives for operating the TAV system in the event of a component system failure. Strategies for Addressing Initiative Weaknesses Our prior high- risk reports indicate that key underlying causes of inventory management problems have not been effectively addressed in the past. These causes include cultural resistance to change and service parochialism, the lack of outcome- oriented goals and performance measures, and the lack of management accountability for correcting problems and for following through to confirm performance results. These problems are the underlying causes of the TAV initiative management weaknesses. The Results Act offers a model for responding to the serious systemic challenges to realizing the goals that DOD set for the TAV initiative. The act provides DOD a framework for management that includes developing clear goals and performance measures for the TAV initiative that would show components' progress in realizing the culture changes necessary to support TAV goals. Components' involvement in a Departmentwide TAV strategic plan, along with measures to determine components' support for initiative goals, should improve accountability and cause components to better work together to meet the TAV initiative goals. The Clinger- Cohen Act, which emphasizes the need to analyze information technology investments, can also help the Department to assess whether TAV technology investments are commensurate with the benefits that will be gained. 9 DOD's Materiel and Distribution Management Fact Book (fiscal year 1997). 10 Defense Computers: Year 2000 Computer Problems Threaten DOD Operations (GAO/AIMD-98-72, Apr. 30, 1998). B-278430 Page 12 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Resistance to Change Limits Progress As we noted in a prior report describing attempts to make Departmentwide changes in asset management practices, 11 cultural resistance to change and service parochialism have contributed to the difficulty of implementing corrective actions to improve DOD systems that are at risk. We pointed out that DOD believed that it was better to overbuy items (just in case) than to manage with the amount of stock needed (just in time). As a result of this attitude and other inventory management weaknesses, DOD has acquired and held too much inventory. This resistance, along with a reluctance to share assets across components and a lack of an appropriate system infrastructure to support and track such transfers, is a major cause of DOD's problems in realizing its Departmentwide TAV initiative goals. Initiative and component managers cited the lack of willingness to transfer assets across the Department as a major obstacle to improving inventory management practices. They noted that this problem had led to conflicts about the sharing of data and providing funding to ensure that quality data was supplied to the Departmentwide TAV initiative. According to TAV representatives, components have been reluctant to transfer assets to the maximum extent and to make necessary policy and system changes because they had purchased assets with their funds, and their managers perceive such assets as belonging to the purchasing DOD component rather than the Department as a whole. In prior work, we obtained views from experts in the academic field and officials from nine large private sector companies that were concerned about inventory management. 12 These experts indicated that a combination of many techniques is needed to bring about successful cultural change, but two are of prime importance. These techniques are (1) top management's commitment and support for desired values and beliefs and (2) training to convey desired values and beliefs and develop the skills needed to implement them. The TAV implementation plan does not describe how these elements will be addressed to achieve the needed changes. In addition, developing and implementing appropriate performance measures as a means to support needed cultural change, such as the dollar values of interdepartmental asset transfers, would create the 11 Organizational Culture: Use of Training to Help Change DOD Inventory Management Culture (GAO/NSIAD-94-193, Aug. 30, 1994). 12 Organizational Culture: Techniques Companies Use to Perpetuate or Change Beliefs and Values (GAO/NSIAD-92-105, Feb. 27, 1992). B-278430 Page 13 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory needed framework for tracking progress in diminishing components' parochialism. Results Act and ClingerCohen Act Can Provide a Useful Management Framework for Change DOD recognized that it was crucial to have outcome- oriented strategic and performance plans to guide implementation of the TAV initiative and help overcome major inventory management problems. In its 1998 Logistics Strategic Plan, the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics) stated that executive agents and related components must develop and submit strategic and supporting plans for logistics areas under their responsibility and that the plans' content and format were to be governed by Results Act provisions. However, this has not yet been accomplished for the TAV initiative. DOD lacks a Departmentwide strategic plan with clear, outcome- oriented goals and performance measures to guide implementation of the TAV initiative. The 1998 Logistics Strategic Plan guidance required that executive agents develop plans to include actions to be taken, completion dates, and resource requirements to satisfy Results Act requirements. These principles reflect the outcome- oriented principles of the Results Act, which the Congress anticipated would be institutionalized and practiced at all organizational levels in federal agencies. Outcome- oriented principles include (1) establishing broad general initiative goals and quantifiable, measurable, outcome- oriented performance goals and related measures; (2) developing strategies for achieving the goals, including strategies for overcoming or mitigating major impediments to goal achievement; (3) ensuring that goals at lower organizational levels align with and support broad initiative goals; and (4) identifying the resources that will be required to achieve goals. Such an approach could determine component progress with culture change by measuring inter- component asset sharing. Such an approach could also mitigate component parochialism and make the best use of Department resources. DOD does not routinely link its performance measures to specific organizational units or individuals that have sufficient flexibility, discretion, and authority to accomplish desired results. In commenting on a draft of this report, DOD stated that TAV should not be managed as a stand- alone initiative. This position is inconsistent with its descriptions of the TAV initiative in DOD documents such as its Results Act reports to the President and the Congress, the 1998 Logistics Strategic Plan, and the Defense Reform Initiative. Furthermore, such a position has resulted in little centralized direction to move components toward meeting B-278430 Page 14 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Department goals set for the TAV initiative. We found no outcome- oriented goals or performance measures assigned to specific components to measure their progress in using the TAV capability. The lack of performance measures deters accountability for components. Improved accountability would help guarantee that component efforts remain focused on supporting Department goals set for the TAV initiative. Without clear, hierarchically linked goals and performance measures that are supported by components, DOD cannot adequately motivate components to better work together to meet Departmentwide TAV goals. We found, for example, that components were developing and implementing their own TAV capabilities, but they believed that they owned the assets, and they would remain reluctant to transfer assets to other components unless DOD transferred ownership to a central DOD authority. The Results Act, with its strategic planning and reporting requirements, provides a framework for improving the management of the TAV initiative. Considering the significance of DOD's problems in improving its asset management through the TAV initiative, we believe modeling TAV planning against Results Act requirements would improve the chances of successful implementation of the initiative. Furthermore, TAV initiative component accountability and performance would be improved by following Clinger- Cohen Act elements calling for investment analyses that focus on Department goals set for the TAV initiative. Although the TAV implementation plan states that an economic analysis of initiative costs and benefits would be done, the TAV initiative lacked investment analyses that are needed to support financial decisions and establish performance goals for investing in the TAV initiative. The Clinger- Cohen Act of 1996 requires performance- based and results- oriented decision- making for all major investments in information technology. The act requires agencies to establish goals for improving efficiency through the effective use of information technology and to develop performance measures to assess how well information technology investments support agency initiatives. The act also requires that major systems development initiatives have investment analyses. Conclusions It is uncertain whether DOD will ultimately achieve its TAV initiative goals. While DOD has achieved some successes through its current effort, it has minimal information for assessing the initiative's status overall, and the effort is weakened by inadequate strategic and implementation planning. Many of the initiative's problems have resulted from long- standing B-278430 Page 15 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory management challenges that DOD encounters as it works to implement new initiatives that span components. These challenges include cultural resistance to change and service parochialism, the lack of outcome- oriented goals and performance measures, and the lack of management accountability. The Results Act and the Clinger- Cohen Act provide effective guidance for developing clear goals and performance measures that are linked to and supported by components and would allow DOD to address these challenges. Such an approach is also required in DOD's 1998 Logistics Strategic Plan for initiatives such as TAV. Recommendations We recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct that actions be taken to develop a Departmentwide TAV strategic plan and associated component implementation plans based on the outcome- oriented management principles embodied in the Results Act and the Clinger- Cohen Act; such plans must be agreed to and supported by relevant components. Specifically, all plans should describe a complete management structure and officials (including component officials) that will be accountable for ensuring the timely success of the TAV initiative; describe how the initiative will be incorporated into DOD work processes in support of DOD's TAV performance goals and how appropriate training will be put in place to support the new work processes and the related cultural change that must be made to support Departmentwide asset sharing; identify complete resource requirements for implementing the TAV initiative and include related investment analyses that show how the major information technology investments will support TAV initiative goals; identify how Departmentwide systems issues that affect implementation of TAV will be addressed; and establish outcome- oriented TAV initiative goals and performance measures for all relevant components and closely link the measures to improvement targets established in documents such as DOD's Logistics Strategic Plan and the Results Act Performance Plan in the Annual Report to the President and the Congress. B-278430 Page 16 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Agency Comments and Our Evaluation In written comments on a draft of this report, DOD agreed with our recommendation to follow the principles embodied in the Results Act and the Clinger- Cohen Act 13 regarding the TAV initiative. However, DOD did not describe what action it planned to take on our recommendation to develop a Departmentwide TAV strategic plan to guide component implementation plans using the Results Act framework. DOD's comments are included in their entirety as appendix I. DOD stated that it has not created a formal Departmentwide TAV program but that better asset management will be attained by each component through improvement to its business and inventory systems and databases. DOD stated that it plans to ensure that each component addresses increased asset visibility as part of its overall logistics supply chain modernization, but in the context of improved inventory management practices. DOD also stated that to the extent that the modernization of inventory management practices requires information technology investments, DOD will adhere to the principles of the Clinger- Cohen Act and that the appropriate management structures are in place for implementation. DOD also stated that it plans to continue to monitor progress in achieving the TAV goals in the Results Act Annual Performance Plan for fiscal year 2000 as part of its overall acquisition reform initiative. DOD officials stated that TAV has been referred to as a program for convenience. Although TAV is described as a program in the Department's Results Act Performance Plan for fiscal year 2000 in its 1999 Annual Report to the President and the Congress, we modified our report to reflect DOD's comments and now describe TAV as an initiative. Given the Department's approach to managing the TAV initiative, it is unclear how the goals, objectives, and time lines described in major Department documents such as its Results Act Performance Plan for the year 2000 will be met. Currently, components lack plans that explain how they would integrate TAV into their work processes to support transfers of assets to other components, and they did not provide time frames for realizing the goals set for TAV in Department planning documents. Therefore, we continue to believe that the Secretary of Defense should develop a Departmentwide strategic plan and associated component 13 The Department refers to the Clinger- Cohen Act as the Information Technology Management Reform Act (ITMRA). The ITMRA was later renamed the Clinger- Cohen Act to honor the principals of the ITMRA. B-278430 Page 17 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory implementation plans based on the principles embodied in the Results Act and the Clinger- Cohen Act. Appendix II describes our objectives, scope, and methodology for this report. Appendix III describes the TAV initiatives and programs under way in various components. Appendix IV describes Department plans that have been made to support asset- tracking efforts, with cited completion dates. Unless you publicly announce its contents earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report until 10 days after its issue date. At that time, we will send copies of this report to Senator Pete V. Domenici, Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Senator Carl Levin, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Senator Ted Stevens, Senator Fred Thompson, and Senator John Warner and to Representative Dan Burton, Representative John R. Kasich, Representative Jerry Lewis, Representative John P. Murtha, Representative David Obey, Representative Ike Skelton, Representative Floyd Spence, Representative John M. Spratt, Jr., Representative Henry A. Waxman, and Representative C. W. Bill Young in their capacities as Chair or Ranking Minority Member of Senate and House Committees and Subcommittees. We are also sending copies of this report to the Honorable William S. Cohen, Secretary of Defense; the Honorable Louis Caldera, Secretary of the Army; the Honorable Richard Danzig, Secretary of the Navy; General Charles C. Krulak, Commandant of the Marine Corps; F. Whitten Peters, Acting Secretary of the Air Force; Air Force General Charles Robertson, Commander in Chief, U. S. Transportation Command; Army Lieutenant General Henry T. Glisson, Director, DLA; and the Honorable Jacob J. Lew, Director, Office of Management and Budget. Copies will also be made available to others upon request. B-278430 Page 18 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Please contact me at (202) 512- 8412 if you or your staff have any questions about this report. The major contributors to this report are listed in appendix V. Sincerely yours, David R. Warren Director Defense Management Issues B-278430 Page 19 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Page 20 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Contents Letter 1 Appendix I Comments From the Department of Defense 22 Appendix II Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 25 Appendix III TAV Initiatives Across DOD 27 Appendix IV History of Department Plans to Realize TAV 31 Appendix V Major Contributors to This Report 33 Related GAO Products 35 Figures Figure III. 1: Departmentwide TAV Organization 27 Contents Page 21 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Abbreviations DLA Defense Logistics Agency DOD Department of Defense NPR National Performance Review TAV Total Asset Visibility Page 22 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Appendix I Comments From the Department of Defense Appendi x I Appendix I Comments From the Department of Defense Page 23 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Appendix I Comments From the Department of Defense Page 24 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Now on pp. 3, 15. Page 25 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Appendix II Objectives, Scope, and Methodology Appendi x I I As your Subcommittee requested, we reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) implementation of its Total Asset Visibility (TAV) initiative. Specifically, we reviewed (1) the difficulty in determining the status of the initiative's implementation, (2) planning weaknesses that are affecting initiative implementation, and (3) strategies for addressing those weaknesses. We interviewed and reviewed documents from DOD officials and contractors that are implementing TAV across DOD and within the military components; officials that are implementing initiatives supporting TAV; and officials responsible for logistics modernization initiatives within the military components. Additionally, we reviewed progress reports and briefings on TAV implementation and other related information. We did not independently verify the accuracy of this information. We also did not validate the actual fielding of the TAV capability in theaters of operation as described by agency officials for this report. However, we observed demonstrations of the Joint TAV, the Army, and the Navy TAV capabilities. We also attended portions of the 5- day TAV users' conference held at the Xerox Document University in Virginia in March 1998. We interviewed officials and gathered relevant documentation for our review at the following locations: Joint TAV Office within the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics), Alexandria, Virginia; Navy TAV initiative within the Office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Logistics, Supply Programs and Policy Division, Arlington, Virginia; Army TAV initiative within the Army's Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Logistics Integration Agency, Alexandria, Virginia; Army TAV System Development Group, Logistics Support Activity, Huntsville, Alabama; Navy TAV Systems Development Group, Naval Inventory Control Point, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Transportation Command Directorate of Operations and Logistics, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Office of Materiel Management and the Air Force Supply, Fuels, and Procurement Division, Fort Belvoir, Virginia; and Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D. C. Appendix II Objectives, Scope, and Methodology Page 26 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory To identify strategies for improving the TAV initiative's implementation, we reviewed and analyzed DOD and component strategic and implementation plans maintained in the Joint TAV Office, the U. S. Transportation Command, and the military components. In analyzing the plans, we applied fundamental strategic planning practices identified in our prior work on this topic, including our prior reports that addressed the implementation of strategic management processes in government agencies, including approaches to the Results Act. DOD recognizes the need for a TAV strategic plan and finalized a Joint TAV plan in January 1999. However, since the Joint TAV strategic plan was oriented on theater asset visibility, we focused our review of planning efforts on DOD's 1996 implementation plan, which claimed to be a Departmentwide TAV implementation plan. We conducted our work between July 1997 and January 1999 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Page 27 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Appendix III TAV Initiatives Across DOD Appendi x I I I The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics) is responsible for the TAV initiative. The Director, DLA, is the Executive Agent charged with coordinating asset- tracking initiatives across the services and DOD. The Executive Agent role was transferred to the DLA Director from the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics effective June 1, 1998. The transfer was done, according to the Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics), because DLA was better positioned to create work processes and supporting systems that meet DOD logistics requirements. The Executive Agent is supported by a Joint TAV Office, which is led by a Director and supported by representatives from each major component. The Joint TAV Office monitors execution of the TAV implementation plan and advises key component executives on the implementation status. Figure III. 1: Departmentwide TAV Organization Source: DOD. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics) Army Army Marine Corps Marine Corps Navy Navy Air Force Air Force DLA DLA TRANSCOM TRANSCOM Director, Defense Logistics Agency, Executive Agent Director, Defense Logistics Agency, Executive Agent Director, Joint TAV Office Director, Joint TAV Office Appendix III TAV Initiatives Across DOD Page 28 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Several related initiatives and programs support the development of TAV across the Department. The Army TAV program is led by the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, and the Navy TAV program is led by the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Logistics. According to TAV officials, each component is also working with the Joint TAV Office to facilitate access to assets for Departmentwide use. The Departmentwide TAV initiative is supported by a number of component efforts. Those major efforts are described in the following sections. Joint Total Asset Visibility The Joint TAV program is led by the Joint TAV Office. The Office is to provide users with timely and accurate information on the location, status, and identity of units, personnel, equipment, and supplies. The Office's role is to obtain access to data from component systems, convert the data into useful information, and present the information to customers across all components. The Office's program involves major subinitiatives for tracking the status of personnel, medical assets, ammunition, and supplies. Global Transportation Network The Global Transportation Network is led by the U. S. Transportation Command. The network is the principal tool for tracking DOD's in- transit assets. It provides the ability to track the identity, status, and location of DOD unit and nonunit cargo, passengers, patients, forces, and military and commercial airlift, sealift, and surface assets from origin to destination during peace, contingencies, and war. The network is to collect, integrate, and distribute transportation information to commanders in chief, the services, and other DOD customers, giving visibility of a requirement when it is initiated and providing continuous visibility as it moves through the transportation system. Automatic Identification Technology The automatic identification technology effort is led by DLA. The effort involves using many technologies, including bar codes, magnetic stripes, integrated circuit boards, optical memory cards, radio frequency identification tags, and orbiting satellites, to track the location of assets. The effort also includes the hardware and software required to read information from the technologies and integrate that information with other logistics data. Appendix III TAV Initiatives Across DOD Page 29 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Army Total Asset Visibility The Army TAV capability is an automated tool that is managed by the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. It is designed to improve the ability of soldiers, logisticians, and managers to obtain and act on the information about the location, quantity, condition, and movement of assets through the Army logistics pipeline. Fielding of the tool, completed in 1996, provides visibility of 99 percent of Army inventories across all classes of supply, according to the Army. Prototypes of the tool were used in Somalia, Rwanda, and Haiti and were also being used to support military operations in Bosnia. According to the Army, some of the key benefits of the tool include easier distribution of assets, reduced inventories and receipt processing times, and fewer duplicate requisitions due to improved asset tracking. Navy Total Asset Visibility The Navy TAV program is led by the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Logistics. In 1992, the Navy piloted TAV through its Virtual Master Stock Item Record Program. This program consolidated Navy assets into one database that enabled item managers to use and redistribute assets efficiently. The Navy later partnered with DLA to provide the Agency access to Navy assets. The program is designed to provide the Navy the ability to track and access primarily secondary inventory, including ammunition. According to the Navy, it has targeted numerous TAV capabilities, including visibility of assets on ships and inventory control point/ defense reutilization and marketing service linkage to assets categorized for disposal. Air Force Total Asset Visibility The Air Force TAV efforts are coordinated through the Air Force Supply, Fuels, and Procurement Division and involve refining its two servicewide asset visibility systems dealing with wholesale and retail assets. The Air Force also redistributes excess consumable assets both internally and to other services within the same theater of operation. According to the Air Force, it has visibility and access to Air Force- managed assets at its wholesale and retail activities and at repair contractor facilities and storage distribution points. Marine Corps Total Asset Visibility The Marine Corps TAV effort is led by the Installations and Logistics Department. The Corps is creating a logistics information data warehouse to share data and provide an overall TAV capability within the Corps. The Appendix III TAV Initiatives Across DOD Page 30 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Marine Corps describes in its fiscal year 1998 Installations and Logistics Campaign Plan the concepts for acquiring TAV capabilities in the future. TAV is also a required operational capability within the Marine Corps Master Plan. Defense Logistics Agency TAV The Defense Logistics Agency coordinates TAV efforts through its Office of Materiel Management. The Agency uses data generated by some component facilities to support its lateral redistribution and procurement offset initiatives by providing its item managers access to these cross component asset- tracking capabilities. DLA is also the Executive Agent for the Joint TAV initiative and the Department's overall automated identification technology effort. Page 31 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Appendix IV History of Department Plans to Realize TAV Appe ndi x I V Obtaining total asset visibility has been a DOD goal since at least 1972. Attempts at reaching this goal have repeatedly failed and deadlines have slipped. In 1972 DOD expected to implement an early version of TAV by 1980, but did not. DOD again developed a plan in 1992 with the target of realizing TAV by 1995; this attempt at TAV was again not fulfilled. The current plan the May 1996 Defense TAV Implementation Plan contains completion dates for several project elements but no target date for achieving total asset visibility. However, the 1998 DOD Logistics Strategic Plan does state that timely, accurate information for 90 percent of Department assets would be available on the TAV system by 2000 and for 100 percent of Department assets by 2004. a DOD Regulation 4140.1- R, chapter 4, Asset Management. Name/ date of plan Plan objectives Target completion date Logistics Systems Plan (1972) Eliminate unnecessary duplication of inventories and establish common use of inventories wherever operationally acceptable and economically beneficial. Material managers will exercise the capability to effectively and comprehensively track and control inventories. These changes were to be realized through improvements to interservicing and materiel management planning. 1980 DOD Total Asset Visibility Plan (1992) Provide managers the capability to have access to and act on timely and accurate information about the location, quantity, condition, movement, and status of DOD materiel assets. 1995 DOD TAV Implementation Plan (1996) Expands the scope of the 1992 plan to include personnel and medical inventories, but the core targets for asset tracking remained the same. No clear completion date 1998 DOD Logistics Strategic Plan Meet total asset tracking requirements established in DOD regulation on asset management. a 2004 Appendix IV History of Department Plans to Realize TAV Page 32 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Page 33 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Appendix V Major Contributors to This Report Appe ndi x V National Security and International Affairs Division, Washington, D. C. Charles I. Patton, Jr. Lawson (Rick) Gist, Jr. B. Scott Pettis Robert R. Poetta Leo G. Clarke III Kenneth Knouse James Murphy F. Earl Morrison Appendix V Major Contributors to This Report Page 34 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Page 35 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Related GAO Products Appendi x VI Navy Inventory Management: Improvements Needed to Prevent Excess Purchases (GAO/NSIAD-98-86, Apr. 30, 1998). Defense Computers: Year 2000 Computer Problems Threaten DOD Operations (GAO/AIMD-98- 72, Apr. 30, 1998). Department of Defense: Financial Audits Highlight Continuing Challenges to Correct Serious Financial Management Problems (GAO/T-AIMD-98-158, Apr. 16, 1998). Inventory Management: DOD Can Build on Progress by Using Best Practices for Reparable Parts (GAO/NSIAD-98-97, Feb. 27, 1998). Managing for Results: Agencies' Annual Performance Plans Can Help Address Strategic Planning Challenges (GAO/GGD-98-44, Jan. 30, 1998). Army Logistics System: Opportunities to Improve the Accuracy of the Army's Major Equipment Item System (GAO/AIMD-98-17, Jan. 23, 1998). Defense Inventory Management: Expanding Use of Best Practices for Hardware Items Can Reduce Logistics Costs (GAO/NSIAD-98-47, Jan. 20, 1998). Financial Reporting: DOD's Fiscal Year 1996 Financial Statements Inventory Reporting Does Not Meet Standards (GAO/AIMD-98-16, Dec. 24, 1997). Defense Inventory: Inadequate Controls Over Air Force Suspended Stocks (GAO/NSIAD-98-29, Dec. 22, 1997). Defense IRM: Poor Implementation of Management Controls Has Put Migration Strategy at Risk (GAO/AIMD-98-5, Oct. 20, 1997). Defense Inventory: Management of Surplus Usable Aircraft Parts Can Be Improved (GAO/NSIAD-98-7, Oct. 2, 1997). Managing for Results: Critical Issues for Improving Federal Agencies' Strategic Plans (GAO/GGD-97-180, Sept. 16, 1997). Defense Computers: Improvements to DOD Systems Inventory Needed for Year 2000 Effort (GAO/AIMD-97-112, Aug. 13, 1997). Page 36 GAO/NSIAD-99-40 Defense Inventory Defense Computers: DFAS Faces Challenges in Solving the Year 2000 Problem (GAO/AIMD-97-117, Aug. 11, 1997). DOD's Draft Strategic Plan (GAO/NSIAD-97-219R, Aug. 5, 1997). Inventory Management: The Army Could Reduce Logistics Costs for Aviation Parts by Adopting Best Practices (GAO/NSIAD-97-82, Apr. 15, 1997). Defense Logistics: Much of the Inventory Exceeds Current Needs (GAO/NSIAD-97-71, Feb. 28, 1997). High- Risk Series: Defense Inventory Management (GAO/HR-97-5, Feb. 1997). DOD's GPRA Implementation (GAO/ NSIAD/ GGD- 97- 65R, Jan. 31, 1997). Defense Inventory: Spare and Repair Parts Inventory Costs Can Be Reduced (GAO/NSIAD-97-47, Jan. 17, 1997). Logistics Planning: Opportunities for Enhancing DOD's Logistics Strategic Plan (GAO/NSIAD-97-28, Dec. 18, 1996). Defense IRM: Critical Risks Facing New Material Management Strategy (GAO/AIMD-96-109, Sept. 6, 1996). Navy Financial Management: Improved Management of Operating Materials and Supplies Could Yield Significant Savings (GAO/AIMD-96-94, Aug. 16, 1996). Inventory Management: Adopting Best Practices Could Enhance Navy Efforts to Achieve Efficiencies and Savings (GAO/NSIAD-96-156, July 12, 1996). Management Reform: Completion Status of Agency Actions Under the National Performance Review (GAO/GGD-96-94, June 12, 1996). Defense Logistics: Requirement Determinations for Aviation Spare Parts Need to Be Improved (GAO/NSIAD-96-70, Mar. 19, 1996). Managing for Results: Achieving GPRA's Objectives Requires Strong Congressional Role (GAO/T-GGD-96-79, Mar. 6, 1996). (709281) Lett er Ordering Information The first copy of each GAO report and testimony is free. Additional copies are $2 each. Orders should be sent to the following address, accompanied by a check or money order made out to the Superintendent of Documents, when necessary, VISA and MasterCard credit cards are accepted, also. Orders for 100 or more copies to be mailed to a single address are discounted 25 percent. Orders by mail: U. S. General Accounting Office P. O. Box 37050 Washington, DC 20013 or visit: Room 1100 700 4th St. NW (corner of 4th and G Sts. NW) U. S. General Accounting Office Washington, DC Orders may also be placed by calling (202) 512- 6000 or by using fax number (202) 512- 6061, or TDD (202) 512- 2537. Each day, GAO issues a list of newly available reports and testimony. To receive facsimile copies of the daily list or any list from the past 30 days, please call (202) 512- 6000 using a touchtone phone. A recorded menu will provide information on how to obtain these lists. For information on how to access GAO reports on the INTERNET, send an e- mail message with info in the body to: info@ www. gao. gov or visit GAO's World Wide Web Home Page at: http:// www. gao. gov United States General Accounting Office Washington, D. C. 20548- 0001 Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300 Address Correction Requested Bulk Rate Postage & Fees Paid GAO Permit No. GI00 *** End of document. ***


text:
Today, December 1, we celebrate World AIDS Day here on location in Kenya.
At the clinic, we're running a campaign for this event by offering free HIV testing. Dennis Mutwiri, a VCT-counsellor, is volunteering to make all the tests. Fredrik and I were the first ones out, and we expect a great crowd around lunchtime when people can take a break from work.
In Kenya, it's common to look up a VCT-counsellor (Volunteering Testing Counselling) when testing oneself for HIV. It's also possible to do the test while seeking healthcare, either in the hospital or at dispensaries. The tests are free of charge, with the government picking up the cost.
If you test positive for HIV, you are sent to a CCC (Comprehensive Care Centre) for counselling, psychological support and, not least, medication. The government pays for these costs as well.
CCC is the body that registers the number of positive HIV tests and reports to the government. There is a large unrecorded number, however. In Kenya it is estimated that around 6% of the population is affected, i.e. registered. In the area around Gundua, as many as 20% of the population is registered. Many affected patients are so ashamed that they don't register with a CCC, which is why the total number is probably much higher. Other patients ignore the results, not wanting to believe them, and don't register for that reason.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Version: 0.3 || Release Date: 2009-03-30 || License: Commercial with demo (Varies)
App Owner: bubbac
Imagine if you had access to all your stuff, everywhere...
With HybridCloudTM storage solution, our product ZumoDrive brings reliable, scalable cloud storage to consumers. ZumoDrive brings cloud storage to computers and smartphones without sacrificing the benefits of local storage.
Required OS: not specified
Tags: cloud , virtual , harddrive
1 Opinion
Made my startup about 20 seconds longer, plus hellish uninstall procedure on Mac. Un-recommended.


text:
Definition of fallback in English:
1An alternative plan that may be used in an emergency: compulsory powers should be retained as a fallback
More example sentences
- The plan hadn't gone well at all and the four had been forced to resort to their fallback plan.
- If that technique, if that strategy, doesn't work, the fallback plan would be taking my major priorities and turning them into initiatives and going directly to the people.
- I wouldn't recommend this as a strategy, but it sure looks like a joyful fallback plan!
2A reduction or decrease: the offering will hit the market after a fallback from record highs
More example sentences
- After sustained increases in support from an 8% base at the 2002 general election, it has recorded a fallback for the first time, seeing its support drop by one point to 11%.
- However, a spokesman for Edinburgh's Lothian Road institution pointed out that the drop in reserves merely reflected the fallback in the stock market.
Words that rhyme with fallbackcallback
For editors and proofreaders
Line breaks: fall|back
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= trending


text:
KOLKATA: Stung by tight supply of natural rubber and the consequent volatility in prices in the domestic market, the rubber industry is clamouring for duty-free imports of the commodity up to 1 lakh tonnes for domestic use. Currently, duty free import of natural rubber is allowed for export purposes against duty exempt entitlement certificates (DEEC).
To take forward the industry's demand, the All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) has decided that it will soon write to the concerned authorities, requesting them to allow import of 1 lakh tonnes of natural rubber at zero customs duty through a government nominated agency to cater to domestic consumption.


text:
Notable Fractional Programs
Buyers' Guide » 2014
August 14, 2014
August 14, 2014
Global deliveries of turbine business airplanes increased 7.2 percent in this year's first quarter over the first quarter of 2013, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. The jump in deliveries will most likely mean a boost to business at centers that perform aircraft completions and refurbishments and companies that provide interior components.
August 14, 2014
Jet card options
August 10, 2014
Your aircraft represents a wonderful business tool but also one of your largest potential exposures to catastrophic loss—one that could wipe out what you have spent years building. The importance of properly insuring against such loss should be obvious. Here's a look at the most critical coverage types and clauses.
August 4, 2014
When you're buying a jet, months of work culminate the moment you sign the papers. You're finished with research, analysis, due diligence and inspections. You've had the last of your consultations with brokers, attorneys, accountants, pilots and mechanics. The marathon has been run and now you can reap the rewards.
July 22, 2014
Which of the major bizav access models—charter, jet card or fractional ownership—best suits you? To begin to answer that question, determine which of the statements below apply to you. If more than half of the statements for an access option apply, it could be a good choice. Note, though, that not all statements carry equal weight; the hours you fly annually can trump other factors in determining whether a solution is appropriate.
July 20, 2014
Given the complexity of the deal and the money at stake, making a business aircraft change hands can seem almost like an act of magic. And as in Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, acts of this sort are best left to professionals—specifically, aircraft brokers and their teams.
July 10, 2014
As soon as its first owner departs from the manufacturer's delivery center, a new airplane technically becomes used (or preowned). For various reasons, however, 10 years after an aircraft's final production date is generally considered the milestone separating "newer" used business aircraft from "older" ones.
July 9, 2014
Here's a look at the world's leading business jet manufacturers and their current and upcoming models.
July 9, 2014
A business aircraft cabin wouldn't be complete without a full range of electronics, with the most important for many passengers being Wi-Fi capability, to download presentations and documents, access e-mail and conduct Internet research.
""I've got a list of corporations that have gotten out of their airplanes [because of criticism from politicians]. It is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. When you look at the time and cost savings; it does not make sense not to fly [privately]. You can't let public perception interfere with your business decision to fly. It either is a good business decision or it isn't.""
-business aviation entrepreneur Nick Popovich
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text:
Getting Below the Surface of the Immigration Debate
By Arnie Alpert
You don't even have to scratch the surface in Oaxaca, a sprawling state in southern Mexico, to learn something about Mexico-US migration. Talk to just about anyone and they'll ask, "Where are you from?" Once you say, "the USA," you'll hear stories about brothers in California, sisters in Carolina, uncles in eastern Washington, or about their own time working on farms, construction projects, or factories north of the border. Even without tales of workplace raids, desert border crossings, and deportations, the challenges facing separated families are obvious and painful.
If you do scratch the surface, you can learn why beautiful, peaceful villages in the rural Mixteca region have empty houses and so few kids the school have shut down. Some reasons, like soil erosion caused by excessive logging, go back centuries to the time of Spanish colonialism. Others are more recent, like the pressures put on Mexico in the 1980s to reduce price supports for tortillas, and the flood of subsidized corn from the USA which entered Mexican markets after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect in 1994.
Jesus León Santos, of the Center for Integral Development of the Mixteca, met with our Witness for Peace delegation in the village of San Juan Sosola and told us the region has experienced longer periods of drought and periods of intense rain brought on by global climatic change. Moreover, he says, chemical inputs of the "green revolution" made the land less productive.
Oaxaca is Mexico's second poorest state, and according to some figures, a third of its people are now living in the USA. Miguel Angel Vásquez, of EDUCA, Services for an Alternative Education, told us that 60% of the Mexican youth who enter the labor market every year are unable to find work.
More than 40% of Oaxaca's farmland is idle, says Luis Santos Martinez of the Union of Corn Producers. "Only old people and women stay in the countryside. The mean have left for the north of the country and the United States," he tells Noticias, a Oaxaca daily.
And it's not just Mexico. In a religiously affiliated shelter in the city of Oaxaca we meet 3 young men from El Salvador and Guatemala, trying to make their way through Mexico past migration police and criminal gangs. A Salvadoran man says, "If I could stay in my country and make money I'd never leave." But he's making his second attempt to reach the USA – the first ended with arrest in northern Mexico – despite his knowledge of the perils of the road. It's not like he expects money to fall from the sky, he says. He expects to work hard so he can send money home to his mom.
When the farm economy fails, rural people migrate. That's the story of 19th century New Hampshire in the 19th century, modern China, of modern Mexico and Central America. But unlike the "mill girls" who left New Hampshire's small towns in the 1840s for the bustling new cities of New England, and unlike the workers in Chinese sweatshops now, Mexicans and Central Americans have to cross a highly militarized border and face a climate of racism and persecution if they reach the other side.
Migration between the United States and Mexico is an old story. After all, the entire Southwest USA was once part of Mexico, and communities near the border have longstanding economic and social ties. As the economies have become more closely intertwined through the general process of globalization and the specific effects of NAFTA, it should be no surprise that migration has increased.
What is surprising, perhaps, is that the policy architects behind NAFTA claimed the opposite would happen. As the rationale went, "free trade" would create jobs south of the border and decrease migration. Instead, NAFTA and associated policy changes destroyed Mexico's rural, corn-based economy. According to the Carnegie Endowment, Mexico's agricultural sector lost 2.3 million jobs from 1990 to 2008.
Migration patterns have been affected in recent years by changes in immigration enforcement and economic conditions. But given the closer economic and cultural ties between the two countries, migration between the USA and Mexico will continue, even with constructive policy changes. What is needed, then, is reform that makes it possible for people to migrate without placing their lives and human rights at risk. Renegotiation of NAFTA to enable Mexico to shore up its corn farmers and slow the importation of subsidized, industrialized, American corn is also essential to restoring health to Mexico's rural economy.
Arnie Alpert is AFSC's New Hampshire Program Coordinator. He spent the summer of 2010 in Oaxaca, Mexico, and participated in a Witness for Peace delegation exploring the root causes of Mexico-US migration.


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Tom Cole
|This is a profile of a U.S. Representative. (See the Oklahoma portal for all incumbents, candidates and blogs.)
Things you can do:
Tom Cole has represented Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican since 2003 (map). As of 2005, Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, is the only registered Native American in the U.S. House. He was the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee for the 110th Congress, but relinquished that role in the 111th Congress.
- 1 Records and controversies
- 2 Bio
- 3 Money in politics
- 4 Committees and Affiliations
- 5 More Background Data
- 6 Articles and Resources
- 7 Contact
Records and controversies
Iraq War
Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal
Tom Cole has voted in favor of big oil companies on 90% of important oil-related bills from 2005-2007, according to Oil Change International. These bills include Iraq war funding, climate change studies, clean energy, and emissions.[1] See below for oil money in politics.
Although born in Shreveport, Louisiana on April 28, 1949, Cole is a fifth-generation Oklahoman, raised in Moore, Oklahoma. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1971 with a BA in History. His postgraduate degrees include an MA from Yale University (1974) and a PhD from the University of Oklahoma (1984), both in British History. Cole did research abroad as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and was a Fulbright Fellow (1977-78) at the University of London. He was a college professor in history and politics before becoming a politician.
Cole is a major figure in contemporary Oklahoma politics. Following his mother Helen, who served as a state representative and senator, Cole served in the Oklahoma State Senate from 1988 to 1991, resigning mid-term to accept a job in Washington. From 1995 to 1999, he was the Oklahoma Secretary of State under Frank Keating, and assisted with the recovery efforts following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He has also served as Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party.
Cole has been heavily involved in national politics as well, having served both as Executive Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee and as Chief of Staff of the Republican National Committee. He also spent two years working as a paid consultant for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But Cole's primary involvement in politics has been as a political consultant. His firm Cole, Hargrave, Snodgrass and Associates played a large part in the reconstruction of Oklahoma's political landscape, and backed a number of candidates that took office during the Republican Revolution of 1994. Among their clients have been Frank Keating, J.C. Watts, Tom Coburn, Frank Lucas, Mary Fallin, Wes Watkins, Steve Largent, Mississippi congressman Chip Pickering, and Hawaii governor Linda Lingle.
Congressional career
During his initial campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002, Cole received the endorsement of Watts, the popular outgoing incumbent. This helped him win a hard-fought general election over Democratic nominee Darryl Roberts with 54% of the vote. Cole subsequently won an easy re-election campaign in 2004, gaining 78% of the vote against independent candidate Charlene Bradshaw.
2006 elections
In 2006, the Democrats nominated Hal Spake to face Cole in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) [1] Cole retained his seat. Following the elections, Cole was named chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee for the 110th Congress.
National Republican Campaign Committee
Cole has withdrawn his name from race to be the chairman of the NRCC due to large amount of Republican losses in the November elections. [2]
Money in politics
|Links to more campaign contribution information for Tom Cole
from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
|Fundraising profile:
|2006 election cycle
|Career totals
|Top contributors by organization/corporation:
|2006 election cycle
|Career totals
|Top contributors by industry:
|2006 election cycle
|Career totals
Oil Money in Politics
Tom Cole has received $80,100 in oil contributions during the 110th congress. $50,500 of those dollars were from industry PACS. In total, Cole has accepted $305,050 from oil companies between 2000 and 2008, which makes him one of the top recipients of oil money.[3] See above for oil voting record.
Committees and Affiliations
- House Committee on Armed Services
- Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces
- Subcommittee on Readiness
- House Committee on Natural Resources
- Subcommitee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans
- Subcommitee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands
Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)
- House Committee on Rules
- Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House
- House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
More Background Data
Wikipedia also has an article on Tom Cole. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.
Articles and Resources
- ↑ Vote Tracker, Oil Change International.
- ↑ Pete Sessions wins leadership role in GOP campaign efforts The Dallas Morning News November 19, 2008 Accessed December 15, 2008
- ↑ See "Follow the Oil Money," "Follow the Coal Money," and vote tracker from Oil Change International and Appalachian Voices.
External resources
- Official Website
- Congressional biography
- Technorati Search: Tom Cole
- Google News: Tom Cole
- Yahoo! News Search: Tom Cole
- Power Trips: How much did Tom Cole travel?
- Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database
- Follow the Oil Money
- Vote Tracker
- Follow the Coal Money
- Appalachian Voices
Local blogs and discussion sites
- Cole Denies Comparing Vote Against Bush to support for Hitler; Restates that "if George Bush loses the election, Osama bin Laden wins the election" Associated Press, 3/4/04.
- Cole speaks about President's Social Security Plan, "He cannot afford to fail. It would have repercussions for the rest of his program, including foreign policy. We can't hand the president a defeat on his major domestic initiative at a time of war" by Jackie Calmes, Wall street Journal, 1/6/05.
- DeLay's Legal Defense Fund Received Contributions from Two New Ethics Committee Members by Mike Allen, Washington Post, 3/14/05.
DC Office:
236 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-3604
Phone: 202-225-6165
Fax: 202-225-3512
Web Email
District Office- Ada:
104 East Twelfth
Ada, OK 74820
Phone: 580-436-5375
Fax: 580-436-5451
District Office- Lawton:
711 Southwest D Avenue, Suite 201
Lawton, OK 73501
Phone: 580-357-2131
Fax: 580-357-7477
District Office- Norman:
2420 Springer Drive, Suite 120
Norman, OK 73069
Phone: 405-329-6500
Fax: 405-321-7369
Corresponding article on Wikipedia and Cause Caller. (If Cause Caller link does not work, pick from its list of senators and representatives.)
|Current Office: U.S. House of Representatives
|111th Congress
|Leadership Position:
|Committees Chaired:
Ranking Member On:
|110th Congress
|Leadership Position:
Chairman, Republican Congressional Campaign Committee
|Committees Chaired:
Ranking Member On:
|Committees: House Committee on Armed Services, House Committee on Armed Services/Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces, House Committee on Armed Services/Subcommittee on Readiness, House Committee on Natural Resources, House Committee on Natural Resources/Subcommittee on Fisheries Wildlife and Oceans, House Committee on Natural Resources/Subcommittee on National Parks Forests and Public Lands
|Congressional Career
|First Elected to Current Office:
November 5, 2002
|First Took Current Office:
January 3, 2003
|Next Election:
November 2, 2010
|Term Ends:
|Freshman Member?
|Previous Political Work?
Oklahoma Secretary of State; Oklahoma Senate
|Other Party Membership:
|District Offices:
|Campaign Contact:
Campaign Offices:
|Zip Code Affiliations:
Date of Birth: April 28, 1949


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In response to the recent Afghan protest and apology for the American Military burning hatespeach found in the Koran, I say bring back the "40 000 Qur'an copies Burn for Free Speech" day.
As a political movement, islam is no friend to America.
F*** islam.
Bring back Burn the Koran Day.
Remember 2004 when Zell Miller warned us about the blame America first Democrat Party.
Never forget 9/11.
F*** Islam.
Nato apologises for Afghan Koran 'burning'
The Nato commander in Afghanistan has apologised over reports foreign troops may have burnt copies of the Koran.
Announcing an inquiry, US Gen John R Allen said any "improper disposal" of religious materials was inadvertent.
Reports suggest the books were taken from prisoners after the US uncovered a secret Taliban message system.
Rumours that a Koran had been burnt led to protests outside the US base at Bagram north of Kabul. One man was hurt when Nato troops fired rubber bullets.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the reports that the Koran had been burnt, as did the Taliban who said the incident would hurt the feelings "of one billion Muslims around the world".
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta called the incident "inappropriate and deeply unfortunate".
"These actions do not represent the views of the United States military," Mr Panetta said in a statement apologising to the Afghan people. He promised to review the results of the investigation.
Police told the BBC that at least 1,000 people took part in the demonstration earlier on Tuesday and that some elders went into the base to talk to Nato officials.
Afghan officials told the AP news agency that the Korans were in rubbish that two soldiers with the US-led coalition transported in a lorry late on Monday night to a pit on the base where waste is burned.
When five Afghans working at the pit noticed the religious books in the rubbish, they stopped the disposal process.
"Foreign troops tried to burn a container of holy Koran books at three o'clock in the morning, but the Afghan mujahideen employees working at the base did not allow them," protester Mohammad Zahir told the BBC.
A BBC reporter at the protests said he saw people crying over claims that foreign troops had set fire to the Koran, while others threw stones and fire bombs at the security forces.
A photographer for the AFP news agency said that guards at the base fired rubber bullets from a watchtower as the crowd shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is great).
Afghan officials told the BBC that the Americans had confiscated books and other documents from suspected Taliban prisoners at the Parwan detention centre next to Bagram base because they believed they were using them to send messages to each other.
'Sincere apologies'
In his statement, Gen Allen said that the investigation would examine whether troops "improperly disposed of a large number of Islamic religious materials which included Korans".
"The materials recovered will be properly handled by appropriate religious authorities," the statement said.
"We are thoroughly investigating the incident and we are taking steps to ensure this does not ever happen again. I assure you… I promise you… this was not intentional in any way."
Gen Allen went on to offer his "sincere apologies for any offence this may have caused", to the president of Afghanistan, the Afghan government and "the noble people of Afghanistan".
Later, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) force said it intended to invite Afghans to join the investigation "so we are transparent with this issue".
"These were religious materials that were gathered up at the detention facility in Parwan and inadvertently given to troops for burning," the Isaf statement said.
"We are still trying to determine if and/or how much got burned before the mistake was discovered.
"If a Koran was damaged, we will find out how it happened and make certain that this does not happen again."
Correspondents say that it was a remarkably candid statement by Gen Allen - played repeatedly on Afghan television - apparently aimed at damage limitation after similar incidents led to violence and attacks on foreigners.
Kandahar Governor Tooryalai Wesa strongly condemned the alleged Koran destruction, which he described as a "shameful move by some stupid individuals".
The BBC's Andrew North says reports of the Islamic holy book being mistreated, whether substantiated or not, have proved incendiary in Afghanistan in the past.
The Taliban and other groups have sometimes been accused of spreading such reports to spark violence, but last year protests erupted in Afghanistan after news emerged that an American preacher had set a Koran on fire in Florida.
At least 14 people, seven of them UN workers, were killed in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. Another 10 people died in unrest in Kandahar the following day. Dozens of others were injured.
By: Flip500
In: Politics
Tags: FIslam, ObamaHitler, Terrorists
Location: Cleveland, Ohio, United States (load item map)
Views: 1829 | Comments: 42 | Votes: 2 | Favorites: 2 | Shared: 0 | Updates: 0 | Times used in channels: 2
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text:
Timmy Lad
This is my little demo page. Just a document of the theatre and other work that I've done over the years.
The links below take you to areas of my work. From these pages you should be able to click on the links and they will play in your browser. For many of these audio files there is sheet music available for the various parts.
Most of these recordings are demos that I created for the actors and/or musicians to learn their parts. I performed (with sometimes humorous effect) all of the singing, playing and programming. Many of the cheesy sampled instruments (trumpets, drums, etc) were ultimately played live by humans during the shows they were written for..
Humboldt Unbound - Humboldt State University Theatre Department - November 2013
FootFall 2013
Blue Lake: The Opera Dell'Arte 2010
Crawdaddy: A Freak Tragedy 2008-2009
The Peer Gynt Project - Dell'Arte 2006-2008
Any Given Moment - with Barbara Geary
Tim's Five Minute Demo
I Afton Skräck Och Skratt 2003-2004


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We are a statewide network of companion animal welfare organizations working to support animal shelters, to promote the adoption of homeless animals and responsible pet ownership, and to end pet overpopulation through education, outreach, and advocacy.
We are companion animal welfare advocates from Calais to Caribou, Kittery to Ft. Kent, and Wells to Waterville - the Maine Federation of Humane Societies serves the entire State of Maine.
Founded in 1953 and incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1980, we are Humane Society Executive Directors, Animal Welfare Facility Managers, Shelter Board Members and private citizens.
We represent companion animal welfare organizations, humane societies, animal welfare and rescue leagues, animal shelters, and private breed rescue organizations.


text:
SEP 17, 2013 - ABC News/ESPN
A Must Read - Share
On Thursday night, Michael Vick will take the field with Andy Reid once again standing on the sideline. Only this time, the man he describes as a lifelong friend will be wearing the bright red gear of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Editor's Picks
Hey you have no friends!!! Get to work and start inviting friends to help build your Comunitee. Click Here to invite friends.
© 2011 Comunitee, Inc.


text:
i substituted agave nectar for the honey and added a little vanilla bean, mmm this was good thanks for posting!
Rating5/5 (from 2 ratings)5
1 teaspoon artisana coconut butter
1 heaping teaspoon cacao powder
1 teaspoon each Lucuma and maca
2 handfuls of spinach
Pinch of salt
Honey to taste
Enough water to blend
Recipe Directions
Blend all ingredients except ice til smooth. Add ice n blend til smooth. Easy and delicious!
Daniefon's ThoughtsBy daniefon
I wanted a smoothie with spinach so I put a few things together. When I was finished it reminded me of a Reese's peanut butter cup, which I loved many years ago. It wasn't the flavor I was going for, I just got lucky!
Print This Recipe (PDF)
Click the button below to download the printable PDF.
Similar Recipes
Top voted
Are you talking about the cacao bliss they make? If so, I bet it was good! I've never experienced bitterness, so maybe it's in your cacao, did you use powder or nibs? I find the nibs bitter, but not the powder. Using cacao bliss (which I didn't have) would eliminate the need for coconut butter since I believe that is it's base. I'm glad you made it work for you! I'm hooked, it's my daily breakfast.
kelsolake's Review
Peanut butter cup smoothie
I tried it with the cacao and it was good, but a tad bitter. Then I made it with the Artisan cacao butter and Oh My!! YUM YUM YUM!! It is a regular dessert, even for my non raw kids.
I have a picture, but cant add it from my iPad, anyone know how? In any case, it looks like a green smoothie!
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text:
Forecasters say snow forecast for New England and parts of New York is expected to start falling heavily later in the day Thursday.
That same storm dropped a half-foot or more of snow in Illinois on Wednesday.
And the aviation tracking website FlightAware.com says hundreds of flights were cancelled into and out of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.


text:
City Council discusses mobile food vendor law
July 10, 2013
Mobile vendors could finally have the ability to sell hot dogs, shaved ice and other treats on some city-owned properties, according to legislation discussed during a meeting of Marietta City......
Maybe I am missing something here. I thought the whole fight was to have vendors downtown where the people are out and about.The parks are a fine idea but I can't imagine there is enough traffic to make it worth the effort.
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DEXTER -- Misty JoAnn Strube, 35, died March 15, 2012, at her home.
Born Dec. 11, 1976, in Fresno, Calif., she had lived in Calfornia and Thayer before moving to Dexter in 2011. She had worked as a cashier at Walmart in Thayer and was of the Catholic belief.
In July 1999, at Hanford, Calif., she married John Strube, and he preceded her in death on March 7, 2000.
Survivors include: her mother and stepfather, Cindy and Melvin Sandage of Dexter; one brother, Joey Garner of Dexter; and her maternal grandparents, John and Rebecca Olivas of Madera, Calif.
No services are planned at this time.
Watkins and Sons Funeral Service of Dexter in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences may be sent at www.watkinsfuneralhome.com.