DOD’s Strategic Policy Does Not Address 5 of the 6 Required Elements, and the Department Has Not Issued an Implementation Plan

On March 7, 2017, DOD issued its strategic policy for managing its  prepositioned stocks in DOD Directive 3110.07, Pre-positioned War  Reserve Materiel (PWRM) Strategic Policy, and included information that  addresses one of the six reporting elements enumerated in section 321 of  the NDAA for fiscal year 2014. Table: GAO’s Assessment of DOD’s Strategic Policy Compared to the Six Reporting Elements Required by the National  Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014  GAO Assessment of  DOD’s Strategic Policy  Addressed  (1) Overarching strategic guidance concerning  planning and resource priorities that link the  Department of Defense’s current and future needs  for prepositioning stocks, such as desired  responsiveness, to evolving national defense  objectives. However, we assessed the remaining elements as  not addressed because DOD did not provide the required information in  its strategic policy. Officials from the Office of the Under Secretary of  Defense for Policy stated that the strategic policy does not include this  information because it is intended to serve as a directive for developing  policies and assigning key responsibilities, which can be used as a  mechanism for addressing required elements at a later time. Specifically:
Element 2 (Description of the Department’s Vision and Desired  End State) and Element 3 (Specific Interim Goals): DOD’s strategic  policy does not include a description of the department’s vision and  the desired end state for its prepositioning programs, as required by  element 2, or specific interim goals for achieving the department’s  vision and desired end state, as required by element 3. Further, DOD has not yet issued an implementation plan for managing its  prepositioned stock programs, which was also required by Section 321 of  the NDAA for fiscal year 2014. The NDAA required DOD to complete the  plan by April 24, 2014. They  anticipated that a plan would be finalized by September 30, 2017. It will  be important for DOD to address the elements that were omitted from its  strategic policy as it creates the implementation plan to ensure that the  plan is linked to a complete strategy on prepositioned stocks for the  department. We have reported for the past 6 years on the importance of  DOD having a department-wide strategic policy and joint oversight of the  services’ prepositioned stock programs, and Congress has required DOD  to take action in this area. In  the cases of a description of the strategic environment and challenges,  metrics, and a framework for joint departmental oversight, DOD’s policy  appropriately assigns responsibility for the development of such  information, and therefore we are not making recommendations related to  those elements because the department has already directed their  implementation. Without either revising its  strategic policy or including in other guidance the department’s vision,  end state, and goals for its prepositioned stock programs, DOD will  continue to be ill positioned to recognize potential duplication, achieve  efficiencies, and fully synchronize the services’ prepositioned stock  programs across the department. Recommendations for Executive Action

To improve DOD’s management of its prepositioned stocks and reduce  potential duplication among the services’ programs, we recommend that  the Secretary of Defense direct the Under Secretary of Defense for  Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, in coordination with the Chairman  of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to revise DOD’s strategic policy or include in  other department-wide guidance: a description of the department’s vision and the desired end state for  its prepositioned stock programs, and  specific interim goals for achieving that vision and desired end state. DOD concurred with our recommendations and noted it is taking steps  to implement them.
Why GAO Did This Study

DOD positions billions of dollars worth of assets–including combat vehicles, rations, medical supplies, and repair parts—at strategic locations around the world to use during early phases of operations. Each of the military services maintains its own prepositioned stock program. For the past 6 years, GAO has reported on the risk of duplication and inefficiencies in the services' programs due to the absence of a department-wide strategic policy and joint oversight. Section 321 of the NDAA for fiscal year 2014 required DOD to maintain a strategic policy and develop an implementation plan to manage its prepositioned stocks.
The NDAA for fiscal year 2014 also included a provision for GAO to review DOD's strategic policy and implementation plan. This report assessed the extent to which DOD's strategic policy addresses mandated reporting elements and describes the status of DOD's implementation plan. To conduct this work, GAO analyzed DOD's strategic policy against the elements required in the NDAA and discussed the status of the implementation plan with DOD officials.

What GAO Found

The Department of Defense's (DOD) strategic policy on its prepositioned stock programs, issued in March 2017, addressed one of the six mandated reporting elements (see table). Specifically, DOD's policy describes strategic planning and resource guidance (element 1), as required.
GAO assessed the remaining five reporting elements as not addressed because DOD did not provide the required information in its policy. For three of the five elements that were not addressed—a description of the strategic environment and challenges (element 4), metrics (element 5), and a framework for joint oversight (element 6)—DOD's policy assigns responsibility for the development of such information, and therefore GAO is not making recommendations related to those elements because DOD has already directed their implementation. However, for two of the five elements that were not addressed—a description of the department's vision and desired end state (element 2) and specific interim goals (element 3)—DOD's strategic policy does not include the required information and instead directs the development of component's (rather than the department's) vision, end state, and goals.
DOD officials stated that the strategic policy does not include required information such as a department-wide vision, end state, and interim goals because it is intended to serve as a directive for assigning responsibilities. Without revising its strategic policy or including required information in other department-wide guidance, DOD will not be positioned to fully synchronize the services' prepositioned stock programs to avoid unnecessary duplication and achieve efficiencies.
DOD has not yet issued an implementation plan for managing its prepositioned stock programs, which the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) required by April 24, 2014. DOD officials anticipated that a plan would be finalized by September 30, 2017. It will be important for DOD to address the elements that were omitted from its strategic policy as it creates the implementation plan to ensure that the plan is linked to a complete strategy on prepositioned stock programs for the department.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DOD revise its prepositioned stocks strategic policy or include in other department-wide guidance (1) a description of the department's vision and the desired end state, and (2) specific interim goals for achieving this vision and end state. DOD concurred with the recommendations, noting that it is taking steps to implement them.