Full Extent, Nature, and Cost of Program Are Not Known

DOD officials do not know the full extent of the IRT Program. Using available service and OSD records for fiscal year 1997, we found that most of the projects were engineering, infrastructure, or medical in nature. Supplemental IRT funding spent on the six projects we reviewed amounted to at least $4.6 million. Program Guidance Is Consistent With Statutory Requirements

The legislation requires the Secretary of Defense to prescribe regulations governing the provision of assistance under the IRT Program. Although the directive meets the legislation’s requirements, DOD could improve the directive by addressing how it will implement the statutory requirement that the provision of assistance not result in a significant increase in the cost of training. Statutory Requirements for Selected Projects Were Generally Met

The six projects we reviewed as case studies were generally conducted within the statutory requirements. For example, the benefiting organizations were eligible for the assistance, and the provision of assistance did not interfere with units’ or individuals’ military functions. While the statute requires that individuals providing assistance perform tasks directly related to their military specialties, on two of the projects we reviewed, some individuals’ tasks were not directly related to their specialties. Thus, it appeared that the goal of completing a project sometimes took priority over the goal of providing valid military training. In addition, we were unable to determine whether providing the assistance had resulted in a significant increase in the cost of training for any of the six projects because DOD has established no basis for making such a determination. The following paragraphs provide additional information on the conformance of the five projects to statutory requirements. OSD and Service Secretary Oversight of IRT Projects Is Limited and Inconsistent

OSD has provided limited and inconsistent oversight of IRT projects and the delivery of support and services under them. For the most part, oversight is limited to those projects that receive supplemental IRT Program funding. Even within those projects, OSD did not always follow its own processes for ensuring the statutory requirements for civil military projects were met and did not have procedures in place to ensure that military organizations were meeting the statutory requirement not to provide assistance that results in a significant increase in training costs. The service secretaries have not established any additional oversight requirements.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) training projects that support nondefense activities, focusing on the: (1) extent, nature, and cost of civil military projects; (2) consistency of DOD's guidance on the Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) Program with statutory requirements; (3) conformity of selected projects to statutory requirements, especially those dealing with military training; and (4) effectiveness of the Office of the Secretary of Defense's (OSD) and service secretaries' oversight of such projects.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) DOD does not know the full extent and nature of the IRT program because some project information is not consistently compiled and reported; (2) furthermore, although DOD knows the amount of supplemental funds spent on the program, it does not know the full cost of the program because the services and components do not capture those costs, which are absorbed from their own appropriations; (3) available records indicate that at least 129 projects were conducted in fiscal year (FY) 1997 and that most of these were engineering, infrastructure, or medical projects; (4) the DOD directive for civil military projects is consistent with the statutory requirements for such projects; (5) specifically, it reiterates the statutory requirements and provides further delineation of how the projects are to be selected and implemented; (6) the directive does not, however, provide any additional guidance for military organizations to use in meeting the statutory requirement that the provision of assistance not result in a significant increase in the cost of training; (7) the six projects GAO reviewed generally met the statutory requirements; (8) for example, the benefitting organizations were eligible for the assistance and the provision of assistance did not interfere with units' or individuals' military functions; (9) however, while the statute requires that individuals providing assistance perform tasks directly related to their military specialties, GAO found that in two cases some individuals' tasks were not directly related to their specialties; (10) thus, it appeared that the goal of completing a project took priority over the goal of providing valid military training; (11) in addition, GAO could not determine whether the assistance had resulted in a significant increase in the cost of training for any of the six projects because DOD has established no basis for making such a determination; (12) OSD has provided limited and inconsistent oversight of IRT projects and the delivery of support and services under them; (13) for the most part, OSD limited oversight to those projects that received supplemental program funding; (14) even for those projects, OSD did not always follow its own processes for ensuring that statutory requirements for civil military projects were met and did not have procedures in place to ensure that military organizations were not providing assistance that significantly increased training costs; and (15) the service secretaries have not established any additional formal oversight procedures.