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Influenza Pandemic: DOD Combatant Commands' Preparedness Efforts Could Benefit from More Clearly Defined Roles, Resources, and Risk Mitigation

GAO-07-696 Published: Jun 20, 2007. Publicly Released: Jul 23, 2007.
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Highlights

An influenza pandemic could impair the military's readiness, jeopardize ongoing military operations abroad, and threaten the day-to-day functioning of the Department of Defense (DOD) due to a large percentage of sick or absent personnel. GAO was asked to examine DOD's pandemic influenza planning and preparedness efforts. GAO previously reported that DOD had taken numerous actions to prepare departmentwide, but faced four management challenges as it continued its efforts. GAO made recommendations to address these challenges and DOD generally concurred with them. This report focuses on DOD's combatant commands (COCOM) and addresses (1) actions the COCOMs have taken to prepare and (2) management challenges COCOMs face going forward. GAO reviewed guidance, plans, and after-action reports and interviewed DOD officials and more than 200 officials at the 9 COCOMs.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense To reduce the potential for confusion, gaps, and duplications in the COCOMs' pandemic influenza planning and preparedness efforts and enhance the unity and cohesiveness of DOD's efforts, the Secretary of Defense should instruct the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs (ASD(HD&ASA)) to issue guidance that specifies which of the actions assigned to DOD in the Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza and other pandemic influenza-related planning tasks apply to the individual COCOMs, military services, and other organizations within DOD, as well as what constitutes fulfillment of these actions.
Closed – Implemented
The 14 national implementation plan tasks assigned to the Joint Staff as the lead organization within DOD, which includes tasks to be performed by the combatant commands, have been completed. According to DOD, the department's Global Pandemic Influenza Planning Team developed recommendations for the division of responsibilities, which were included in U.S. Northern Command's global synchronization plan for pandemic influenza. Additionally, DOD assigned pandemic influenza-related tasks to the combatant commands in its 2008 Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan.
Department of Defense To reduce the potential for confusion, gaps, and duplications in the COCOMs' pandemic influenza planning and preparedness efforts and enhance the unity and cohesiveness of DOD's efforts, the Secretary of Defense should instruct the ASD(HD&ASA) to issue guidance that specifies NORTHCOM's roles and responsibilities as global synchronizer relative to the roles and responsibilities of the various organizations leading and supporting the department's pandemic influenza planning.
Closed – Implemented
Revisions to DOD's 2008 Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan, as well as guidance from the Secretary of Defense during a periodic review of U.S. Northern Command's pandemic influenza global synchronization plan, clarified and better defined U.S. Northern Command's role as global synchronizer. This satisfies the intent of our recommendation.
Department of Defense To increase the likelihood that the COCOMs can effectively continue their pandemic influenza planning and preparedness activities, including accomplishing actions assigned to DOD in the national implementation plan within established time frames, the Secretary of Defense should instruct the ASD(HD&ASA) to work with the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) to identify the sources and types of resources that COCOMs need to accomplish their pandemic influenza planning and preparedness activities.
Closed – Implemented
DOD, through U.S. Northern Command as the global synchronizer for pandemic influenza planning, collected information from the combatant commands on funding requirements related to pandemic influenza preparedness and submitted this information through DOD's formal budget and funding process. Through this process, five of the combatant commands (U.S. Northern Command, U.S. European Command, U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. Central Command, and U.S. Transportation Command) obtained about $25 million for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 for pandemic influenza planning and exercises. Future pandemic influenza-related funding requirements will be addressed through DOD's established budget process. This satisfies the intent of our recommendation.
Department of Defense To increase the likelihood that COCOMs are more fully prepared to protect personnel and perform ongoing missions during an influenza pandemic, the Secretary of Defense should instruct the Joint Staff to work with the COCOMs to develop options to mitigate the effects of factors that are beyond the COCOMs' control, such as limited detailed information from other federal agencies on the support expected from DOD, lack of control over DOD's antiviral stockpile, limited information on decisions that other nations may make during an influenza pandemic, reliance on civilian medical providers for medical care, and reliance on military services for medical materiel.
Closed – Implemented
The combatant commands are increasingly inviting representatives from the United Nations, including the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization; host and neighboring nations; and other federal government agencies to exercises and conferences to share information and fill information gaps. Additionally, U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Pacific Command, along with the military services and installations, are increasingly working and planning with state, local, and tribal representatives. DOD views updating and reviewing plans to ensure that they are current as a continuous process driven by changes in policy, science, and environmental factors. This satisfies the intent of our recommendation.

Full Report

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Topics

Defense capabilitiesDefense contingency planningEmergency preparednessHomeland securityInfectious diseasesMilitary forcesPandemicPublic healthStrategic planningInfluenza