	Background

Overseas posts that undergo evacuations in response to threats to post  staff, family members, or facilities generally experience phased changes  to their operational status, such as an authorized or ordered departure,  potentially leading to suspended operations. These  drills are shown in figure 2. State  guidance also requires post staff to transmit an after-action report listing  lessons learned to State headquarters. State Has Gaps in Its Crisis and Evacuation Preparedness for Overseas Posts

State’s implementation of preparedness processes for crises and  evacuations at overseas posts has multiple gaps:
Overseas posts have not updated EAPs annually within required time  frames. The gaps in State’s implementation of preparedness processes for crises  and evacuations at overseas posts increase the risk that post staff are not  sufficiently prepared to handle crisis and emergency situations. In fiscal year 2016, about 1 in 12 overseas posts were late in completing  required annual updates. Our analysis of a nongeneralizable sample of EAPs for 20 posts that DS  had reviewed and approved showed that only 2 of the 20 posts’ EAPs  included evidence that posts had updated all 27 key sections. Emergency Action Plans Are Viewed As Lengthy and Cumbersome Documents That Are Not Readily Usable in Emergency Situations

According to the FAH, EAPs should be readily usable plans to handle  emergency situations and should contain information to assist post staff in  responding to emergencies. Overseas Posts Reported Completing About Half of Required Drills Intended to Prepare Post Staff for Crises and Evacuations

Although the FAH establishes requirements for overseas posts to  annually conduct nine types of drills to prepare for crises and  evacuations, we found that, on average for fiscal years 2013–2016,  overseas posts reported completing 52 percent of required drills. For example, in fiscal years 2013 through 2016, an  average of 78 percent of posts reported completing required duck and  cover drills; an average of 58 percent of posts reported completing  required employee warden system drills; an average of 36 percent of  posts reported completing required evacuation/drawdown training drills;  and an average of 22 percent of posts reported completing the required  consular warden system drills. For those posts rated high or critical in political violence or terrorism, we  found that, on average for fiscal years 2013 through 2016, 2.3 percent of  posts reported completing all drills at least twice per fiscal year as  required (see table 4). Conclusions

U.S. personnel working at overseas posts, along with the family members  who accompany them, face a range of threats to their safety and  security—such as terrorism, civil unrest, and natural disasters. In its comments, State concurred with  all five recommendations and described actions planned or under way to  address them. GAO staff who made key contributions to this report  are listed in appendix V.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report examines (1) the processes the Department of State (State)  has established to prepare overseas posts for crises and to conduct  evacuations and (2) State’s implementation of preparedness processes  for crises and evacuations at overseas posts. Therefore, this report omits information identified  by State as sensitive. To examine the processes State has established to prepare overseas  posts for crises and to conduct evacuations, we reviewed State’s policies  and procedures in the FAM and associated FAH requiring posts to  prepare EAPs and to conduct crisis-situation and evacuation drills, as well  as policies and procedures to conduct evacuations at overseas posts. Fifth, to determine the extent to which overseas posts that had  experienced evacuations complied with requirements to submit lessons  learned reports to State headquarters following the termination of an  authorized or ordered departure, we requested from State officials at  headquarters any required lessons learned reports submitted by posts  following evacuations for fiscal years 2013–2016.
Why GAO Did This Study

From October 2012 to September 2016, State evacuated overseas post staff and family members from 23 overseas posts in response to various threats, such as terrorism, civil unrest, and natural disasters. Overseas posts undergoing evacuations generally experience authorized departure or ordered departure of specific post staff or family members, potentially leading to suspended operations.
GAO was asked to review State policies and procedures for evacuating overseas posts. This report examines (1) the processes State has established to prepare posts for crises and to conduct evacuations and (2) State's implementation of preparedness processes for crises and evacuations. GAO reviewed State guidance and documents related to crisis and evacuation preparedness, including a sample of EAPs and State databases on EAP updates and post drills. GAO also interviewed U.S. officials in Washington, D.C., and in six countries selected because of posts' experiences with evacuations. This is the public version of a sensitive report that GAO issued in June 2017. Information that State deemed sensitive has been omitted.

What GAO Found

The Department of State (State) has established processes to prepare overseas posts for crises and to conduct evacuations. In particular, posts prepare by developing and updating Emergency Action Plans (EAP) and conducting drills. EAPs are to contain information to assist posts in responding to emergencies, such as checklists of response procedures and decision points to help determine when to evacuate post staff or family members. Posts are required to conduct nine types of drills each fiscal year to prepare for crises and evacuations. State also has established processes for conducting post evacuations. Following an evacuation, post staff are required to transmit an after-action report identifying lessons learned to State headquarters.
State has gaps in its crisis and evacuation preparedness for overseas posts. In fiscal years 2013–2016, almost a quarter of posts, on average, were late completing required annual EAP updates. While the completion rate improved from 46 percent to 92 percent of posts completing updates on time in fiscal years 2013 and 2016, respectively, GAO's review of a nongeneralizable sample of EAPs from 20 posts that had been approved by State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security showed that only 2 of 20 had updated all key EAP sections. GAO also found that EAPs are viewed as lengthy and cumbersome documents that are not readily usable in emergency situations, as required. In addition, GAO found that, on average for fiscal years 2013–2016, posts worldwide reported completing 52 percent of required annual drills; posts rated high or critical in political violence or terrorism reported completing 44 percent of these drills. As shown in the figure below, 78 percent of posts reported completing duck and cover drills, but only 36 percent of posts reported completing evacuation training drills. Overall, less than 4 percent of posts reported completing all required drills during fiscal years 2013-2016. In addition, although posts are required to transmit an after-action report listing lessons learned to State headquarters following evacuations, no such reports were submitted in fiscal years 2013–2016. Taken together, the gaps in State's crisis and evacuation preparedness increase the risk that post staff are not sufficiently prepared to handle crisis and emergency situations.

What GAO Recommends

In GAO's sensitive report, GAO made five recommendations to State focused on strengthening accountability for completion and review of posts' annual EAP updates and required emergency drills, enhancing the usability of EAPs, and ensuring that lessons learned reports are completed. State concurred with all five recommendations and described actions planned or under way to address them.