1). NORTHCOM conducts or participates in exercises to improve readiness to  perform its assigned missions. 3). NORTHCOM’s Exercise Program Is Consistent with DOD’s Joint Training System, but Exercise Reporting is Inconsistent

		NORTHCOM’s Exercise Program is Consistent with DOD’s Joint Training System

NORTHCOM’s Commander’s Training Guidance requires that NORTHCOM  establish a training and exercise program consistent with the Joint  Training System and establishes that training efforts and resources will be  focused on two large-scale exercises annually. In addition,  access to this system is generally limited to DOD officials. We  found that 17 civilian federal agencies and organizations have participated  to varying degrees in one or more of the seven large-scale NORTHCOM  exercises that have occurred since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in  August 2005. One of DOD’s  challenges is adapting its exercise system and practices to accommodate  the coordination and involvement of other federal, state, local, and tribal  agencies that do not have the same kinds of practices or level of planning  effort. Inconsistencies with how NORTHCOM involves states in planning,  conducting, and assessing exercises is occurring in part because  NORTHCOM officials lack experience dealing with the various state  agencies and emergency management structures. Without an informed and consistent  process for including the states in planning, conducting, and assessing its  exercises, NORTHCOM increases the risk that its exercises will not  provide benefits for all participants, impacting the seamless exercise of all  levels of government and potentially affecting NORTHCOM’s ability to  provide support to civil authorities. NORTHCOM has been identifying observations, lessons learned, and  needed corrective actions from its exercises and operations since the  command was created in 2002. NORTHCOM Has Taken Steps to Integrate Its Exercises with the National Exercise Program, but Guidance Is Not Consistently Applied

		NORTHCOM Has Participated in National Exercises and Taken Steps to Integrate with the NEP

Since the NEP Charter was approved in January 2007, NORTHCOM has  participated in the major national exercise held under the NEP and taken  steps to integrate its exercises into the national program. We found that NORTHCOM generally has used DOD’s Joint  Training System guidance for planning NEP exercises, defining  capabilities, and reporting exercise results. Further, a key element to developing effective working relationships with  all states is a consistent process for including states in planning and  executing NORTHCOM’s exercises that incorporates state-specific  knowledge and information. To improve NORTHCOM’s involvement of interagency partners and states  in its lessons learned and corrective action process and its management of  corrective actions, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct:    NORTHCOM’s Commander to establish and publicize valid and easily  accessible procedures for non-DOD exercise participants to submit  observations relevant to NORTHCOM, such as placing a template on  NORTHCOM’s publicly accessible Web site or DHS’s Homeland  Security Information Network, so that NORTHCOM officials have a  clear, secure avenue to obtain observations and assess potential  lessons that originate with its exercise partners;  the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in consultation and  coordination with DHS, to either resolve information assurance issues  so that the combatant commands, including NORTHCOM, can post  Exercise Summary Reports with lessons learned and observations  from NEP exercises on DHS’s Lessons Learned Information Sharing  system to make them easily accessible to interagency partners and  states or establish an alternative method to systematically collect and  share lessons learned; and  the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to revise the joint lessons  learned operating instruction to include procedures to ensure that  appropriate corrective actions are implemented and verified in a  subsequent exercise or operation before being closed and that the  reasons for closure are documented. However, this does not fully address our recommendation. Finally, to determine the extent to which NORTHCOM is integrating its  training and exercises with the NEP we reviewed DOD, NORTHCOM, and  Department of Homeland Security guidance to identify any differences in  exercise planning and documentation between DOD’s guidance and that  for the NEP. Homeland Defense: Steps Have Been Taken to Improve U.S. Northern  Command’s Coordination with States and the National Guards Bureau,  but Gaps Remain.
Why GAO Did This Study

U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) exercises to test preparedness to perform its homeland defense and civil support missions. GAO was asked to assess the extent to which NORTHCOM is (1) consistent with Department of Defense (DOD) training and exercise requirements, (2) involving interagency partners and states in its exercises, (3) using lessons learned and corrective actions to improve preparedness, and (4) integrating its exercises with the National Exercise Program (NEP). To do this, GAO reviewed NORTHCOM and NEP guidance and postexercise documentation, assessed NORTHCOM compliance, and compared DOD and NEP exercise requirements.

What GAO Found

NORTHCOM's exercise program is generally consistent with the requirements of DOD's Joint Training System, but its exercise reporting is inconsistent. Since the command was established in 2002, NORTHCOM has conducted 13 large-scale exercises and generally completed exercise summary reports within the required time frame. However, those reports did not consistently include certain information, such as areas needing improvement, because NORTHCOM lacks guidance that specifies exercise reports' content and format, potentially impacting its ability to meet internal standards for planning and execution of joint exercises, and to compare and share exercise results over time with interagency partners and states. Nineteen federal agencies and organizations and 17 states and the District of Columbia have participated in one or more of the seven large-scale exercises that NORTHCOM has conducted since September 2005. However, NORTHCOM faces challenges in involving states in the planning, conduct, and assessment of its exercises, such as adapting its exercise system and practices to involve other federal, state, local, and tribal agencies that do not have the same practices or level of planning resources. Inconsistencies with how NORTHCOM involves states in exercises are occurring in part because NORTHCOM officials lack experience dealing with states and do not have a consistent process for including states in exercises. Without such a process, NORTHCOM increases the risk that its exercises will not provide benefits for all participants, impact the seamless exercise of all levels of government, and potentially affect NORTHCOM's ability to provide civil support capabilities. NORTHCOM has a systematic lessons learned and corrective action program to improve preparedness, but gaps remain with collecting and sharing lessons with agency and state partners and managing corrective actions. Access to the system NORTHCOM uses for managing exercise observations is limited for non-DOD participants, and DOD believes that the Department of Homeland Security's system is not adequately protected from unauthorized users. NORTHCOM's mitigation steps have not resolved the issues. In addition, about 20 percent of the corrective actions tracked by NORTHCOM were being closed prematurely due to gaps in oversight. Closing issues prematurely increases the risk that issues will reoccur and limits the knowledge gained and value of the exercise. NORTHCOM has taken steps to integrate its exercises with the NEP, but guidance is not consistently applied. NORTHCOM has participated in several NEP exercises and is leading its first major NEP exercise in the fall of 2009. However, NORTHCOM has used DOD's Joint Training System planning and documentation requirements rather than DHS's requirements, because NEP guidance is not clear on what exercise planning standard should be used and DOD guidance does not address the issue. The states we visited use NEP guidance. Differences between NEP and DOD guidance could affect the ability of all participants to develop effective working relationships.