DOD Leverages Numerous Capabilities to Collect, Fuse, and Share Maritime Information to Respond to Global Maritime Challenges

DOD, combatant commands, and joint task forces leverage numerous  capabilities to enhance maritime domain awareness, including  intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance collection platforms;  intelligence fusion and analysis; and information sharing and  dissemination. DOD Identified Numerous Maritime Capability Gaps, but Does Not Have a Comprehensive, Departmentwide Strategy to Manage Risk Associated with These Capability Gaps and Guide Future Investments

DOD has articulated a broad strategy for maritime domain awareness and  identified numerous maritime capability gaps through various documents. However, DOD does not have a departmentwide strategy that adequately  defines roles and responsibilities for addressing gaps, aligns objectives  with national strategy, and includes measures to guide the implementation  of maritime domain awareness efforts, measure progress, and assess and  manage risk associated with capability gaps. DOD Strategy Documents Does Not Have Departmentwide Objectives, Identify Roles and Responsibilities, and Align with National Strategies

We previously reported that it is standard practice to have a strategy that  lays out goals and objectives, identifies actions for addressing those  objectives, allocates resources, identifies roles and responsibilities, and  measures performance against objectives. The federal government, DOD,  and its components have developed a number of documents that  incorporate some of these key elements of an overall strategy for maritime  domain awareness. Department of Defense Maritime Domain Awareness Joint  Integrating Concept. Assessment of the U.S. Defense Components Annual Maritime  Domain Awareness Plans 2009. Even though DOD, its interagency partners, and its components have  made efforts to identify and start prioritizing capability gaps, DOD does  not have a departmentwide risk assessment to address high priority  capability gaps. For example, DOD’s combatant commands and components prioritize  maritime domain awareness differently based upon their respective  missions. The various interagency and DOD views on capability gaps and priorities  may not provide a full assessment of the risks associated with these gaps  at a departmentwide level. A strategy  that includes a comprehensive, risk-based approach to managing maritime  domain awareness, including a departmentwide assessment of the critical  capabilities, may also provide better information to decision makers about  the potential implications of policy and resourcing decisions both within  DOD and across the interagency. In the absence of a departmentwide  strategy for maritime domain awareness, including the prioritized  allocation of resources to maritime domain awareness, measures of  performance in meeting the goals and objectives, monitoring of progress  in addressing capability gaps, and assessing risk, DOD may not be  effectively managing its maritime domain awareness efforts. Recommendations for Executive Action

To improve DOD’s ability to manage the implementation of maritime  domain awareness across DOD we recommend that the Secretary of  Defense direct the Secretary of the Navy, as DOD’s Executive Agent, to  take the following two actions:    Develop and implement a departmentwide strategy for maritime  domain awareness that, at a minimum  Identifies DOD objectives and roles and responsibilities within DOD  for achieving maritime domain awareness, and aligns efforts and  objectives with DOD’s corporate process for determining  requirements and allocating resources; and  Identifies responsibilities for resourcing capability areas and  includes performance measures for assessing progress of the  overall strategy that will assist in the implementation of maritime  domain awareness efforts. Key contributors to this report are listed in appendix III.
Why GAO Did This Study

Maritime security threats to the United States are broad, including the naval forces of potential adversary nations, terrorism, and piracy. The attacks on the USS Cole in 2000, in Mumbai in 2008, and on the Maersk Alabama in 2009 highlight these very real threats. The Department of Defense (DOD) considers maritime domain awareness--that is, identifying threats and providing commanders with sufficient awareness to make timely decisions--a means for facilitating effective action in the maritime domain and critical to its homeland defense mission. GAO was asked to examine the extent to which DOD has developed a strategy to manage its maritime domain awareness efforts and uses a risk-based approach. GAO analyzed national and DOD documents; interviewed DOD and interagency maritime domain awareness officials; and conducted site visits to select facilities engaged in maritime related activities. This report is a public version of a previous, sensitive report..

What GAO Found

DOD has identified numerous maritime capability gaps and developed documents that articulate a broad strategy for maritime domain awareness. However, DOD does not have a departmentwide strategy that adequately defines roles and responsibilities for addressing gaps, aligns objectives with national strategy, and includes measures to guide the implementation of maritime domain awareness efforts, and to assess and manage risk associated with capability gaps. GAO has previously reported that it is standard practice to have a strategy that lays out goals and objectives, suggests actions for addressing those objectives, allocates resources, identifies roles and responsibilities, and measures performance against objectives. DOD and its components have developed a number of documents that incorporate some of these key elements of an overall strategy for maritime domain awareness such as a definition of the problem. However, collectively they do not have several key elements a strategy should contain. For example, neither DOD's Maritime Domain Awareness Joint Integrating Concept nor the DOD's Executive Agent Assessment of U.S. Defense Components Annual Maritime Domain Awareness Plans fully address organizational roles and responsibilities and resources, investments, performance measures, and risk management. Additionally, DOD leverages numerous capabilities to collect, fuse, and share maritime information to respond to global maritime challenges. DOD components have identified and started prioritizing capability gaps; however, DOD does not have a departmentwide risk assessment to address high priority capability gaps. DOD combatant commands and components prioritize maritime domain awareness differently based upon their respective missions and these component-level views may not provide a full view of the risks associated with these gaps at a departmentwide level. Prior GAO work has emphasized the importance of using a comprehensive risk assessment process. A strategy that includes a comprehensive, risk-based approach to managing maritime domain awareness may provide better information to decision makers about the potential implications of policy and resourcing decisions both within DOD and across the interagency. In the absence of a departmentwide strategy, DOD may not be effectively managing its maritime domain awareness efforts. This report is a publicly releasable version of a previously issued, sensitive report.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DOD (1) develop and implement a strategy with objectives, roles, and responsibilities for maritime domain awareness, aligns with DOD's corporate process, identifies capability resourcing responsibilities, and includes performance measures; and (2) perform a comprehensive risk-based analysis, including prioritized capability gaps and future investments. DOD agreed with the recommendations.