The  Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics  oversees the space and unmanned aircraft systems acquisition programs. The Complexity of DOD’s ISR Enterprise Funding Presents Challenges for Managing and Overseeing the Scope and Cost

The USD(I) has the authority to exercise oversight responsibility over  DOD’s ISR’s enterprise; however the broad scope and complex funding  arrangements of DOD’s ISR enterprise make it difficult to manage and  oversee. The scope of the ISR enterprise and capabilities include many  different kinds of activities—from collection of information through  dissemination of analysis compiled from multiple sources—conducted by  multiple agencies. As a result, ISR activities may be funded through any of  several sources, including the Military Intelligence Program, the National  Intelligence Program, overseas contingency operations funding, and  service appropriations, or by a combination of these sources. To manage  DOD’s large ISR enterprise, the USD(I) serves as DOD’s senior intelligence  official, responsible for providing strategic, budget, and policy oversight  over DOD’s ISR enterprise. However, the USD(I) does not have full  visibility into several budget sources that fund DOD’s ISR enterprise, such  as national intelligence capabilities, capabilities used for ISR and non-ISR  purposes, urgent operational needs, and military personnel expenses  related to ISR. The  USD(I)’s inability to gain full visibility into all of DOD’s ISR financial  resources may hinder efforts to develop an investment strategy for ISR, to  consider tradeoffs across military services and programs, and to address  potential duplication, fragmentation, and overlap. DOD Has Established Initiatives and Processes to Achieve Efficiencies, but Additional Steps Could Improve Accountability

DOD has developed general guidance in directives, a manual, and  memorandums emphasizing the need to identify and eliminate duplication  or redundancies in its capabilities, which provides a foundation for further  action. However, current ISR efficiency studies have  limited scope, initiatives are in the early stages of development, and  implementation plans, including resource requirements, have not been  fully developed. In August 2010, the Secretary of Defense directed that the department  begin a series of efficiency initiatives to reduce duplication, overhead, and  excess. However, the scope of the review was limited to ISR  analysis activities and excluded ISR activities associated with collecting  ISR data, which represents one of the largest areas of growth in ISR  spending. The  absence of implementation goals and timelines will make it difficult to  determine whether this initiative will make progress in achieving  efficiencies. DOD Has Developed an ISR Integration Roadmap but Has Only Partially Addressed Management Elements Required by Legislation or Identified by Congressional Committees

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 required  DOD to develop an ISR Integration Roadmap to guide the development  and integration of DOD ISR capabilities over a 15-year period, and to  report to Congress on the content of the roadmap, including specific  management elements that DOD should address. In response to both of  these requirements, DOD issued an ISR Integration Roadmap. Our review of DOD’s 2007 and 2010 ISR  roadmaps found that DOD has made progress in addressing the issues that  Congress directed to be included, but neither roadmap included all the  specified elements or addressed the important issue of how to invest  future resources among competing priorities. Additionally, the roadmap does not provide estimated costs associated  with these capability needs and does not prioritize ISR capabilities. Furthermore, until DOD develops an  integrated ISR investment strategy, the defense and intelligence  communities may continue to use resources that are not necessarily based  on strategic priorities, which could lead to gaps in some areas of  intelligence operations and redundancies in others. For example, more work remains for DOD to identify  efficiencies across the entire ISR enterprise, such as exploring efficiencies  in ISR collection activities. Recommendations for Executive Action

To improve management of DOD’s ISR enterprise and increase its ability  to achieve efficiencies, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense  direct the USD(I) to take the following three actions:    Collect and aggregate complete financial data—including information  on dual-use assets, urgent operational needs, capability funding from  multiple sources, and military personnel funding—to inform resource  and investment decisions.
Why GAO Did This Study

The success of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems in collecting, processing, and disseminating intelligence information has fueled demand for ISR support, and the Department of Defense (DOD) has significantly increased its investments in ISR capabilities since combat operations began in 2001. In fiscal year 2010, intelligence community spending --including for ISR--exceeded $80 billion. Section 21 of Public Law 111-139 mandated that GAO identify programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives with duplicative goals and activities. This report examines the extent to which: (1) DOD manages and oversees the full scope and cost of the ISR enterprise; (2) DOD has sought to identify and minimize the potential for any unnecessary duplication in program, planning, and operations for ISR; and (3) DOD's ISR Integration Roadmap addresses key congressionally directed management elements and guidance.

What GAO Found

The Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD[I]) has the authority to oversee DOD's ISR enterprise; however, the broad scope and complex funding arrangements of DOD's ISR enterprise make it difficult to manage and oversee. The scope of the ISR enterprise and capabilities include many different kinds of activities conducted by multiple agencies. As a result, ISR activities may be funded through any of several sources, including the Military Intelligence Program, the National Intelligence Program, overseas contingency operations funding, and military service funds. To manage DOD's large ISR enterprise, the USD(I) serves as DOD's senior intelligence official, responsible for providing strategic, budget, and policy oversight over DOD's ISR enterprise. However, the USD(I) does not have full visibility into several budget sources that fund DOD's ISR enterprise, such as national intelligence capabilities, dual use assets, urgent operational needs, and military personnel expenses related to ISR. The USD(I)'s inability to gain full visibility and clarity into all of DOD's ISR financial resources hinders efforts to develop an investment strategy for ISR and to achieve efficiencies. DOD has developed general guidance in directives and other documents emphasizing the need to identify efficiencies and eliminate duplication or redundancies in its capabilities, which provides a foundation for further action. In August 2010, the Secretary of Defense directed that the department begin a series of efficiency initiatives to reduce duplication, overhead, and excess. However, the scope of the review pertaining to ISR was limited to analysis activities and excluded activities associated with collecting ISR data--one of the largest areas of growth in ISR spending. Additionally, two ISR efficiency initiatives are in the early stages of development and do not have implementation goals and timelines. Without goals and timelines, it will be difficult to determine whether these initiatives will make progress in achieving efficiencies. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 required DOD to develop a roadmap to guide the development and integration of DOD ISR capabilities over a 15-year period and report to Congress on the contents of the roadmap, such as goals and an investment strategy to prioritize resources. DOD responded to both of these requirements by issuing an ISR roadmap. GAO's review of DOD's 2007 and 2010 ISR roadmaps found that DOD has made progress in addressing the issues that Congress directed to be included, but the 2007 and 2010 roadmaps did not address certain management elements identified by Congress. In 2008, Congress restated the 2004 requirements and provided additional guidance to the USD(I). However, the 2010 roadmap still does not represent an integrated investment strategy across the department because it does not clearly address capability gaps or priorities across the enterprise and still lacks investment information. Until DOD develops an integrated ISR investment strategy, the defense and intelligence communities may continue to make independent decisions and use resources that are not necessarily based on strategic priorities.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DOD compile and aggregate complete ISR funding data, establish implementation goals and timelines for its efficiency efforts, and give priority to examining efficiency in ISR collection activities. DOD agreed or partially agreed with these GAO recommendations. GAO also suggests that Congress consider holding DOD accountable to address required elements of the ISR roadmap.