Operational deployments are one type of deployment event, but do not  account for all of the time individuals spend away from home. DOD, Service, and SOCOM Policies Vary in Identifying Perstempo Thresholds for Service Members

DOD, service, and SOCOM policies vary in identifying specific and  measurable thresholds on perstempo for individual service members. Specifically, a 2013  memorandum from the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and  Readiness states that individual service members should not be deployed  longer than they are at their home station. In contrast, the Army, the Air Force, and the Marine Corps are either not  enforcing or have not established a specific and measurable perstempo  threshold in their policies. The regulation  updated the Army’s policy to include a perstempo threshold. For example, Air Force officials told us  that F-16 pilots spend considerable amounts of time participating in  multiple exercises every year that require them to spend significant time  away from their homestation. Furthermore, even as it has continued to waive the statutory perstempo  thresholds and cited the effect of the high pace of operations and training  on service members, DOD has not taken action to focus attention on the  management of perstempo thresholds within the services and DOD. Through providing specific and measurable department-wide  perstempo thresholds in DOD guidance or directing the services and  SOCOM to establish and follow service-specific thresholds for its service  members, DOD will be better able to judge whether service members are  spending too much total time away from home and, if so, whether there  have been any associated effects on military readiness. DOD and the Services Do Not Have Reliable Data to Monitor Perstempo

DOD does not have reliable perstempo data, which limits its ability to  effectively monitor perstempo across the department. For example, a December  2017 Defense Manpower Data Center analysis indicated that perstempo  data are missing records for at least 145,000 individuals that deployed in  fiscal years 2014-2016. Because the perstempo policies vary  widely, we anchored our analysis to the 220 days in a 365-day period  identified in the currently waived statutory threshold. Using that  benchmark, we estimate that at least 51,000 service personnel spent  more than 7 months away from their homestation in fiscal year 2016 (see  table 1). For example, we found  that 30 percent of perstempo records for fiscal years 2012 through 2016  were missing information that identifies the service member’s occupation,  14 percent were missing information that identifies the purpose of the  perstempo event, and 8 percent were missing information that identifies  the category of perstempo event. The official stated that the Navy’s  data showed that more than 31,000 Navy service members were away  from home more than 220 days in fiscal year 2016—a difference of about  13,000 personnel. In 1996, we reported that DOD  could not measure the increase in time away from home because no  department-wide data system existed to track it. The underlying  reason that perstempo data are not reliable is that DOD has not  emphasized the collection of complete and reliable perstempo data. Without taking steps to improve the quality of its perstempo  data, DOD will be limited in its ability to assess the amount of time service  members are serving away from home for all perstempo events and use  that information to assist them in monitoring and gauging the stress on  the force. Total time away from home includes the  training and other activities that can take service members away from  home for long periods. Until DOD and the  military services take steps to emphasize the collection of complete and  reliable perstempo data, DOD will be limited in its ability to oversee the  time its personnel are spending away from home or gauge the stress on  the force. The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of  Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in conjunction with the Secretaries  of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force; the Commandant of the Marine  Corps; and the Commanding General of SOCOM, clarify its guidance on  perstempo thresholds as long as the statutory thresholds are waived by  either establishing specific and measurable department-wide perstempo  thresholds in DOD policy or ensuring that the Army, the Air Force, and the  Marine Corps establish and follow their own service-specific guidance on  thresholds. In  written comments, DOD concurred with our two recommendations.
Why GAO Did This Study

In 1999, Congress required DOD to monitor the time that individual service members spend away from home and set a threshold to limit excessive time away. At the time, the threshold was no more than 220 days served away from home in a 365-day period. In the interest of national security, in 2001 DOD exercised a provision in the law and waived the requirement to limit time away for service members. Recently, DOD leaders have stated that the continued high pace of military operations have limited their ability to rebuild readiness.
Senate Report 114-255 includes a provision for GAO to review the root causes of degraded readiness, including reviewing DOD's management of perstempo. This report assesses the extent to which DOD, the services, and SOCOM have (1) policies with specific and measurable thresholds on perstempo and (2) reliable data to monitor perstempo.
GAO analyzed DOD, service, and SOCOM perstempo policies and analyzed DOD-wide perstempo data for fiscal years 2012-2016.

What GAO Found

The Department of Defense (DOD), military service, and U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) policies vary in identifying specific and measurable thresholds on the total time individual service members can be away from home, known as personnel tempo or “perstempo.” DOD's policy issued in 2013 states that service members should not be deployed for longer than they are at home. However, the policy does not set thresholds for perstempo, which includes time away from home for exercises and training in addition to deployment. Service members are sometimes away from home for long periods for training, exercises, or other activities. For example, Air Force officials told GAO that F-16 pilots participate in multiple exercises every year that require them to spend significant time away from home. The Navy and SOCOM set specific and measurable perstempo thresholds in policy in 2014 and 2016, respectively. However, the other services either are not enforcing or have not established specific and measurable perstempo thresholds in their policies. DOD has maintained the waiver of statutory perstempo thresholds since 2001, and officials have cited the effect of the high pace of operations and training on service members; however, DOD has not taken action to focus attention on the management of perstempo thresholds within the services and department-wide. Unless DOD ensures that perstempo thresholds are established and followed while statutory thresholds are waived, DOD will be unable to judge whether service members are spending too much total time away from home and, if so, whether this has resulted in any associated effects on military readiness.
DOD does not have reliable data to monitor perstempo because the data are incomplete. Based on available DOD-wide data, GAO estimated that for fiscal year 2016 at least 51,000 service personnel spent more than 7 months away from home. However, that number is conservative because the analysis is limited by incomplete data. Specifically:
DOD analysis shows that perstempo records are missing for at least 145,000 personnel who deployed in fiscal years 2014-2016.
For fiscal years 2012-2016, 30 percent of DOD's perstempo records were missing information that identifies service members' occupations, 14 percent were missing information that identifies the purpose of the perstempo events, and 8 percent were missing information that identifies the category of perstempo events.
The Navy identified about 13,000 personnel who spent more than 220 days away from home in fiscal year 2016 but were not accounted for in the DOD-wide data, and DOD officials could not explain why they were missing.
Without taking steps to emphasize the collection of complete and reliable perstempo data, DOD will be limited in its ability to assess the amount of time service members are serving away from home for all perstempo events and in its ability to use that information to assist in gauging the stress on the force.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DOD (1) clarify its policy to include specific and measurable department-wide perstempo thresholds for use while statutory thresholds are waived or ensure service-level policies are established and followed, and (2) take steps to emphasize the collection of complete and reliable perstempo data. DOD concurred with GAO's recommendations.