The Navy's Computerized Pay System Is Unreliable and Inefficient--What Went Wrong?
FGMSD-80-71
Published: Sep 26, 1980. Publicly Released: Sep 26, 1980.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Over the last 12 years, the Navy has spent more than $150 million to develop and operate a central automated military pay system that is largely unreliable and inefficient. Although GAO approved the system design, it is not working as designed because it was not implemented as designed.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Secretary of the Navy to improve the reliability, efficiency, and effectiveness of the Navy's military pay system by requiring commanding officers, disbursing officers, and administrative officers to operate the pay system as designed and as approved by GAO. Target dates should be established for reducing the extent of the manual effort now required to make the system work. As the automated system becomes more effective, reliance upon the manual system should be considerably reduced, thereby eliminating the parallel manual system. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Secretary of the Navy to expedite the Navy's plans to transmit input data to the Finance Center electronically rather than by mail. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Secretary of the Navy to strengthen supervisory controls over pay technicians' resolutions of system rejections. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Secretary of the Navy to identify those organizations which submit untimely and erroneous pay data and take corrective action as indicated. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Secretary of the Navy to set a standard for when an override of computer-produced Leave and Earnings Statements by all local disbursing officers can take place. This standard could vary with the rank of the member. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Secretary of the Navy to comply with Defense requirements to carry out the policies prescribed for developing and operating the military pay system. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Secretary of the Navy to ensure that internal auditors periodically report to top management on the progress responsible officials are making toward operating the system as designed and in meeting the established goals and objectives. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Secretary of the Navy to comply with all Defense policies and procedures in future work now planned to correct the problems with the automated pay system. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Secretary of the Navy to establish procedures to measure system effectiveness. This should include defining goals and objectives in measurable terms, identifying applicable performance indicators to be measured, and developing standards against which performance can be measured. At the same time, responsible officials should be required to operate the pay system as designed and as approved. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
Full Report
Office of Public Affairs
Topics
Electronic data processingInformation systemsNaval personnelPayroll systemsProgram managementRecords managementSystems evaluationSystems designMilitary forcesPay systems