However, many of the ad hoc procedures used to keep  soldiers in pay status circumvented key internal controls in the Army  payroll system—exposing the Army to the risk of significant overpayment,  did not provide for medical and other benefits for the soldiers dependents,  and sometimes caused additional financial problems for the soldier. Further details on these case studies  are included in our related report. The Army Lacks an Effective Control Environment and Management Controls

The Army has not provided (1) clear and comprehensive guidance needed  to develop effective processes to manage and treat injured and ill reserve  component soldiers, (2) an effective means of tracking the location and  disposition of injured and ill soldiers, and (3) adequate training and  education programs for Army officials and injured and ill soldiers trying to  navigate their way through the ADME process. Lack of Clear Processes Contributed to Pay Gaps and Loss of Benefits

The Army lacks customer-friendly processes for injured and ill soldiers  who are trying to extend their active duty orders so that they can continue  to receive medical care. While effectively keeping a soldier in pay status, this work- around circumvented key internal controls—putting the Army at risk of  making improper and potentially fraudulent payments. In addition,  because these soldiers are not on official active duty orders they are not  eligible to receive other benefits to which they are entitled, including health  coverage for their families. The Army’s New Medical Retention Program Will Not Solve All the Problems Associated with ADME

The Army’s new MRP program, which went into effect May 1, 2004, and  takes the place of ADME for soldiers returning from operations in support  of the Global War on Terrorism, has resolved many of the front-end  processing delays experienced by soldiers applying for ADME by  simplifying the application process. Finally, because the MRP program is designed such that  soldiers may be treated and released from active duty before their MRP  orders expire, weaknesses in the Army’s processes for updating its pay  system to reflect an early release date have resulted in overpayments to  soldiers. As discussed previously, assembling this documentation was one of the  primary reasons ADME orders were not processed in a timely manner. Not surprisingly, the Army does not know how many soldiers have been  released from active duty before their 179-day MRP orders had expired. Concerned that some of these soldiers may  have inappropriately continued to receive pay after they were released  from active duty, we verified each soldier’s pay status in DJMS-RC and  found that 15 soldiers were improperly paid past their release date— totaling approximately $62,000. Actions to Improve the Accuracy, Timeliness, and Availability of Entitled Pay and Benefits

A complete and lasting solution to the pay problems and overall poor  treatment of injured soldiers that we identified will require that the Army  address the underlying problems associated with its all-around control  environment for managing and treating reserve component soldiers with  service-connected injuries or illnesses and deficiencies related to its  automated systems.
Why GAO Did This Study

In light of the recent mobilizations associated with the Global War on Terrorism, GAO was asked to determine if the Army's overall environment and controls provided reasonable assurance that soldiers who were injured or became ill in the line of duty were receiving the pay and other benefits to which they were entitled in an accurate and timely manner. This testimony outlines pay deficiencies in the key areas of (1) overall environment and management controls, (2) processes, and (3) systems. It also focuses on whether recent actions the Army has taken to address these problems will offer effective and lasting solutions.

What GAO Found

Injured and ill reserve component soldiers--who are entitled to extend their active duty service to receive medical treatment--have been inappropriately removed from active duty status in the automated systems that control pay and access to medical care. The Army acknowledges the problem but does not know how many injured soldiers have been affected by it. GAO identified 38 reserve component soldiers who said they had experienced problems with the active duty medical extension order process and subsequently fell off their active duty orders. Of those, 24 experienced gaps in their pay and benefits due to delays in processing extended active duty orders. Many of the case study soldiers incurred severe, permanent injuries fighting for their country including loss of limb, hearing loss, and back injuries. Nonetheless, these soldiers had to navigate the convoluted and poorly defined process for extending active duty service. The Army's process for extending active duty orders for injured soldiers lacks an adequate control environment and management controls--including (1) clear and comprehensive guidance, (2) a system to provide visibility over injured soldiers, and (3) adequate training and education programs. The Army has also not established user-friendly processes--including clear approval criteria and adequate infrastructure and support services. Many Army locations have used ad hoc procedures to keep soldiers in pay status; however, these procedures often circumvent key internal controls and put the Army at risk of making improper and potentially fraudulent payments. Finally, the Army's nonintegrated systems, which require extensive errorprone manual data entry, further delay access to pay and benefits. The Army recently implemented the Medical Retention Processing (MRP) program, which takes the place of the previously existing process in most cases. MRP, which authorizes an automatic 179 days of pay and benefits, may resolve the timeliness of the front-end approval process. However, MRP has some of the same issues and may also result in overpayments to soldiers who are released early from their MRP orders. Out of 132 soldiers the Army identified as being released from active duty, 15 improperly received pay past their release date--totaling approximately $62,000.