Some enlisted  pay grades have two ranks. DOD’s Policies and Procedures for On- Base Services and Programs Establish Access Requirements for All Servicemembers, Including Junior Enlisted; Implementation Is Influenced by Budget and Utilization Rates at Selected Installations

DOD has policies and procedures at multiple levels—DOD, the military  services, and selected installations we visited—that govern  servicemember access to on-base services and programs, which includes  access for junior enlisted servicemembers. In most cases, the policies we analyzed referenced  either the entire enlisted population or the entire installation’s population,  and did not distinguish between specific groups—including, for instance,  rank or gender, among other things. For example, Defense Health  Agency policy regarding health care includes provisions for all active-duty  servicemembers, of which junior enlisted servicemembers are a subset,  as part of a priority system for access to care. DOD and the military service data-collection mechanisms and  resultant data—including surveys, utilization rates of services, and other  means of providing feedback—do not fully capture potential access  issues associated with on-base services and programs, including those  identified in our discussion groups. Those areas include: (1) dining facilities, (2) medical  care, and (3) transportation. For example, 6 of the  11 junior enlisted and 5 of the 6 senior enlisted discussion groups  reported having problems with or knowledge of problems with scheduling  medical appointments in a timely manner. With regard to on-base services and programs, we found that the 2012,  2009, and 2007 Status of Forces Surveys of Active Duty Members asked  servicemembers about their satisfaction with the (1) hours of operation of  the exchange; (2) convenience of locations of the exchange; (3)  availability of medical and dental care; (4) ability to get medical and dental  care appointments; (5) waiting time in the clinic; and (6) convenience of  locations of medical facilities, but did not include similar questions  regarding satisfaction with on-base MWR programs or dining facilities. However, these  surveys also did not ask about servicemembers’ access to on-base  services or programs. In addition, participants in 9 of 17 discussion  groups—6 junior enlisted discussion groups and 3 senior enlisted  discussion groups—stated that they believe information is not reaching  installation leadership or that feedback provided through other  mechanisms, such as the Interactive Customer Evaluation tool, may be  ignored or not received by leadership. Further, according to DOD officials, access to on-base services and  programs is not believed to be a widespread problem that warrants a  department-wide response. Military service officials stated that the  questions related to satisfaction with the services and programs used on  existing surveys and other data-collection mechanisms are sufficient to  obtain needed data and information on any potential access issues. However,  although the efforts of these boards and any resultant action may benefit  junior enlisted servicemembers through their efforts to address issues for  all servicemembers, the focus of these boards is broader than identifying  or addressing issues specific to junior enlisted servicemembers. Further, without reviewing existing methods of information sharing on  initiatives and other good practices identified at all levels of the  department, to include efforts to identify and address junior enlisted  access issues and share this information at all levels, the department is  missing opportunities to gain valuable information about this population  that could, in part, further efforts to provide a quality of life to its  servicemembers that encourages them to continue their service and  contribute to DOD’s goal of a trained and ready force. Recommendations for Executive Action

To help ensure that junior enlisted servicemembers who need and rely on  the services and programs provided on military installations have access  when needed and that departmental leadership has visibility over issues  affecting this population, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense  direct the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and  Readiness in collaboration with the Secretaries of the military services  and other defense agency leaders to take the following two actions:  review current data-collection mechanisms and consider appropriate  additions and revisions to help ensure that specific information on  junior enlisted servicemember access to on-base services and  programs is collected, available, and disseminated to relevant  decision makers, and have decision makers take appropriate action  on the basis of that information; and  review existing methods of information sharing on initiatives and other  good practices identified within and across the department, the  military services, and individual installations and consider adding  mechanisms to better leverage those existing methods—such as the  Common Services Task Force—to help ensure that issues associated  with junior enlisted servicemember access are identified and, to the  extent possible, addressed, and that such information is shared at all  levels of the department. DOD’s comments are reprinted in appendix  III. To evaluate the extent to which DOD and the military services collect and  share information and data on junior enlisted servicemember access to  on-base services and programs, we analyzed the most recent DOD,  service, and selected installation-level data-collection mechanisms, such  as surveys and other feedback mechanisms, to identify questions and  information related to the use of, access to, and satisfaction with services  and programs on military installations, specifically focusing on questions  related to access to on-base services and programs and whether they  were targeted to the junior enlisted populations.
Why GAO Did This Study

Junior enlisted servicemembers constitute more than half of DOD's enlisted force. To sustain the force and help ensure continued growth in all ranks, DOD provides a wide array of services and programs on its military bases, including dining facilities; fitness centers; and medical clinics. Senate Report 113-176 included a provision for GAO to review junior enlisted servicemember access to services and programs on military bases.
This report evaluates (1) the extent to which DOD's policies and procedures for on-base services and programs consider access by junior enlisted and what factors influence their implementation; and (2) the extent to which DOD and the military services collect and share information and data on junior enlisted access to on-base services to identify any potential access issues. GAO evaluated DOD, military service, and base policies and data-collection tools; conducted 17 nongeneralizable discussion groups with junior and senior enlisted servicemembers randomly selected at four bases identified to represent a range of size and locations; and interviewed officials from OSD, the services, and four bases.

What GAO Found

Department of Defense (DOD) policies and procedures at multiple levels—the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the military services, and four bases GAO visited—govern on-base services and programs and establish access for all servicemembers, including junior enlisted, who are in the early stages of their military career and in the first four of nine pay grades of the military compensation system. Further, implementation is influenced by several factors. GAO found that policies referenced the entire active-duty, enlisted, or base populations, and did not distinguish between specific groups—such as by pay grade or rank. For example, Defense Health Agency policy regarding medical care includes provisions for all active-duty servicemembers, of which junior enlisted servicemembers are a subset, as part of a priority system for access to medical care. Further, at four bases GAO visited, implementation of policies and procedures was influenced by factors such as available budgetary resources and low usage of services or programs. Base officials stated that budget cuts and sequestration diminished their ability to provide services and programs at a level that met current needs of all servicemembers.
DOD's efforts to collect data on on-base services and programs do not address junior enlisted servicemember access issues, including those identified in GAO-led discussion groups. Further, DOD has mechanisms for sharing information across the department on initiatives and other good practices, but these also do not focus on junior enlisted servicemember access issues. In all 17 discussion groups, participants provided comments—positive and negative—on access to the following: (1) dining facilities, (2) medical care, and (3) transportation. For example, 6 of 11 junior enlisted discussion groups reported having problems scheduling medical appointments in a timely manner. However, GAO found that formal data-collection mechanisms used by DOD, the military services, and four bases—including surveys, utilization rate data, and town halls—did not fully capture potential access issues related to these type of concerns because they did not include (1) direct questions on access to all services and programs, (2) opportunities to follow up on reasons for dissatisfaction, or (3) options for open-ended responses. For example, DOD's Status of Forces Survey of Active Duty Members asks about satisfaction with hours of operation of the commissary, but does not ask about satisfaction with or access to most other services and programs. According to participants in 9 of 17 discussion groups, feedback from informal mechanisms, such as discussions with supervisors where access may be discussed, may not be relayed to decision makers or acted upon once received. Finally, DOD's information-sharing methods include a number of policy boards with representatives from the services, but the efforts are broader than identifying or addressing issues specific to junior enlisted servicemembers. DOD officials stated that they believe access is not a widespread problem and satisfaction questions and other efforts are sufficient to obtain needed data on access. Without reviewing and considering existing data-collection and information-sharing mechanisms and taking action, DOD is missing opportunities to enhance its efforts to provide services and programs that encourage retention and contribute to DOD's goal of a trained and ready force.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DOD (1) review data collection mechanisms and consider revisions related to junior enlisted access to services, and take action as needed based on the information, and (2) review existing methods of information sharing and consider adding mechanisms to increase visibility over junior enlisted personnel's access to services. DOD concurred with both recommendations.