DOD officials have indicated that they have reinitiated their efforts to develop a strategy but have not set a target date for their completion. Services Are Implementing Risk Management but Provide Inadequate Oversight

The services and commands we reviewed are generally following prescribed guidance and regulations to use the DOD risk management approach in developing their installation antiterrorism requirements, but a significant weakness exists with the oversight of this process. Specifically, the services are not required to evaluate the thoroughness of all installations’ annual risk management assessments or whether installations used required methodologies to perform these assessments. DOD’s Combating Terrorism Funding Reports Do Not Clearly Reflect Costs

DOD has reported that $32.1 billion has been allocated or requested for combating terrorism activities from fiscal year 1999 through fiscal year 2003; however, these reported amounts may not present a clear picture of total combating terrorism costs. The most recent budget report, submitted to Congress in March 2002, includes the following: the combating terrorism program descriptions and budget request estimates for fiscal year 2003, the estimated budget for fiscal year 2002, and the actual obligations for fiscal year 2001. 1.) In accordance with DOD’s Financial Management Regulation, the Department’s combating terrorism costs include funding for personnel in designated specialties that have combating terrorism missions, such as military police, civilian police, and security guards. Our analysis indicates that the military services generally are not applying a results-oriented management framework to guide their antiterrorism efforts, in part, because DOD does not yet have a Department-wide antiterrorism strategy. To determine whether the services use a results-oriented management framework to guide their antiterrorism efforts, we met with Office of the Secretary of Defense and service headquarters and command antiterrorism officials, and reviewed their strategic-planning documents for evidence of the critical elements of a strategic plan and performance plan—as embodied in the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993.
What GAO Found

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, domestic military installations increased their antiterrorism measures to their highest levels. These measures were reduced in the weeks following the attacks, but because of the persistent nature of the threat, the antiterrorism posture at domestic installations remains at a higher than normal level more than 1 year later. The Department of Defense's (DOD) budget request for fiscal year 2003 includes more than $10 billion for combating terrorism activities, which includes a substantial increase in funding for antiterrorism measures to safeguard personnel and strategic issues. The service headquarters GAO reviewed did not use a comprehensive results-oriented management framework to guide their antiterrorism efforts. According to service officials, a comprehensive results-oriented management framework for antiterrorism efforts is not consistently used across all services and commands because DOD does not require it, and service officials indicated that they were reluctant to develop such an approach before the forthcoming DOD-wide antiterrorism strategy was issued. Although the Department has recently restarted its efforts toward developing this strategy, it has not set a specific time frame for its completion. The services and commands are following prescribed guidance and regulations to conduct risk management analyses to support their antiterrorism requirements, but significant weaknesses exist with the current approach. The commands do not always require documentation of the assessments, and they do not periodically evaluate the assessment methodology used at each installation to determine the thoroughness of the analyses or the consistency with required assessment methodology. DOD has reported that $32.1 billion has been allocated or requested for combating terrorism activities from fiscal year 1999 through fiscal year 2003; however, these reported amounts may not present a clear picture of total combating terrorism costs. GAO's analysis indicates that $19.4 billion of this amount is for military and civilian personnel and personnel-related operating costs associated with individuals in designated specialties that have combating terrorism-related missions, such as military police, civilian police, and security guard.