	Key Areas for Interagency Collaboration

Our body of work on interagency collaboration has identified several key  areas that are essential for collaboration among U.S. federal agencies in  addressing security challenges. Three are particularly important for  SOUTHCOM and AFRICOM: (1) developing and implementing overarching  strategies, (2) creating collaborative organizations, and (3) building a well- trained workforce. Interagency Practices and Challenges at SOUTHCOM and AFRICOM, and with U.S. Counterpiracy Efforts

Our work on SOUTHCOM and AFRICOM found that both commands have  demonstrated some practices that will help enhance and sustain  interagency collaboration, but areas for improvement remain. Interagency Partners Have Helped Develop Strategies and Plans, but Some Remain Unfinished at AFRICOM and for Counterpiracy Efforts

SOUTHCOM and AFRICOM have sought input from several federal  agencies in developing overarching strategies and plans, but AFRICOM  has not yet completed many specific plans to guide activities and ensure a  U.S. government unity of effort in Africa. One key requirement for the country work plans, for  example, is to align them with embassy strategic plans to ensure unity of  effort. U.S. Government Has Action Plan to Counter Piracy, but Agencies’ Roles and Responsibilities Are Not Clearly Defined

Our preliminary work on U.S. counterpiracy efforts off the Horn of Africa  shows that the United States has an action plan that serves as an  overarching strategy and provides a framework for interagency  collaboration, but roles and responsibilities have not been clearly  assigned. Our preliminary work indicates that the National  Security Council, which authored the plan, has not assigned the majority  of tasks outlined in the plan to specific agencies. In addition to a deputy  military commander who oversees military operations, each command has  a civilian deputy to the commander from State who oversees civil-military  activities. Both commands have also embedded interagency officials throughout  their organizations. However, limited resources at other federal agencies have prevented  interagency personnel from participating in the numbers desired. While SOUTHCOM’s organizational structure was designed to facilitate  interagency collaboration, the 2010 Haiti earthquake response revealed  weaknesses in this structure that initially hindered its efforts to conduct a  large-scale military operation. Our report made recommendations aimed at improving SOUTHCOM’s  ability to conduct the full range of military missions that may be required  in the region, while balancing its efforts to support interagency partners in  enhancing regional security and cooperation. AFRICOM Staff Could Benefit from More Comprehensive Training or Guidance on Working with Interagency Officials in Africa

AFRICOM, as a relatively new command engaged in capacity-building  efforts, has emphasized the need to work closely with U.S. embassies to  ensure that activities are consistent with U.S. foreign policy and to  contribute to a unity of effort among interagency partners (see fig. In  addition, the command has designated cultural awareness as a core  competency for its staff. However, we found that some AFRICOM staff  have limited knowledge about working with U.S. embassies and about  cultural issues in Africa, and the training or guidance available to augment  personnel expertise in these areas is limited. While ou work on SOUTHCOM did not focus on workforce training, comm personnel have expressed the need for more opportunities to improve  th eir understanding of working in an interagency environment. GAO-10-794. Defense Management: U.S. Southern Command Demonstrates  Interagency Collaboration, but Its Haiti Disaster Response Revealed  Challenges Conducting a Large Military Operation. GAO-10-801. Force Structure: Preliminary Observations on the Progress and  Challenges Associated with Establishing the U.S. Africa Command. Combating Terrorism: Law Enforcement Agencies Lack Directives to  Assist Foreign Nations to Identify, Disrupt, and Prosecute Terrorists.
Why GAO Did This Study

Recognizing the limits of military power in today's security environment, the Department of Defense (DOD) is collaborating with other U.S. federal agencies to achieve its missions around the world. DOD's combatant commands, such as U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), play key roles in this effort. Both aim to build partner nation capacity and perform humanitarian assistance, while standing ready to perform a variety of military operations. Among its missions, SOUTHCOM supports U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the Americas and Caribbean in disrupting illicit trafficking and narco-terrorism. As DOD's newest command, AFRICOM works with U.S. diplomacy and development agencies on activities such as maritime security and pandemic response efforts. Today GAO issued reports that the subcommittee requested on SOUTHCOM (GAO-10-801) and AFRICOM (GAO-10-794), which in part evaluated how each collaborates with U.S. interagency partners. This testimony summarizes that work and provides observations from ongoing work on U.S. counterpiracy efforts by focusing on 3 key areas essential for interagency collaboration.

What GAO Found

GAO's work has shown that developing overarching strategies, creating collaborative organizations, and building a workforce that understands how to fully engage partners are key areas where agencies can enhance interagency collaboration on national security issues. GAO found that DOD's SOUTHCOM and AFRICOM have demonstrated some practices that will help enhance and sustain collaboration, but areas for improvement remain. (1) Overarching strategies: SOUTHCOM and AFRICOM have sought input from several federal agencies in creating their theater campaign plans, which outline command priorities, and for other strategies and plans. However, AFRICOM has not completed plans that detail its activities by country and that align with embassy strategic plans to ensure U.S. government unity of effort in Africa. Also, GAO's preliminary work indicates that a U.S. action plan provides a framework for interagency collaboration to counter piracy in the Horn of Africa region, but the plan does not assign agencies their roles or responsibilities for the majority of tasks in the plan. (2) Collaborative organizations: Both commands have organizational structures that encourage interagency involvement in their missions. Each has a military deputy commander to oversee military operations and a civilian deputy to the commander from the State Department to oversee civil-military activities. Both commands also embed interagency officials within their organizations, but limited resources at other federal agencies have prevented interagency personnel from participating at the numbers desired. However, AFRICOM has struggled to fully leverage the expertise of embedded officials. Moreover, while SOUTHCOM's organizational structure was designed to facilitate interagency collaboration, the 2010 Haiti earthquake response revealed weaknesses in this structure that initially hindered its efforts to conduct a large-scale military operation. (3) Well-trained workforce: AFRICOM has emphasized the need to work closely with U.S. embassies to ensure that activities are consistent with U.S. foreign policy and to contribute to a unity of effort among interagency partners. In addition, the command has designated cultural awareness as a core competency for its staff. However, some AFRICOM staff have limited knowledge about working with U.S. embassies and about cultural issues in Africa, which has resulted in some cultural missteps. Further, limited training is available to enhance personnel expertise. While GAO's work on SOUTHCOM did not focus on training, personnel from the command also expressed the need for more opportunities to improve their understanding of working in an interagency environment. GAO made recommendations to the commands aimed at improving their capabilities to perform their missions through the development of plans and training. DOD agreed with the recommendations.