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Military Capabilities: Stronger Joint Staff Role Needed to Enhance Joint Military Training

NSIAD-95-109 Published: Jul 06, 1995. Publicly Released: Jul 06, 1995.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the effectiveness of the Department of Defense's (DOD) joint training activities, focusing on the: (1) scope of DOD joint training activities; and (2) actions taken and additional actions needed to improve joint training.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense, in concert with the Chairman, JCS, should improve the oversight of joint training activities by ensuring that the appropriate DOD entities routinely review the Commanders in Chief's (CINC) plans for the CJCS Exercise Program to ensure that each exercise: (1) provides maximum joint training value without compromising its primary purposes; and (2) includes tasks that test the effectiveness of actions taken to correct previously identified problems.
Closed – Implemented
DOD plans to continue its current level of effort of reviewing the CINCs' joint training activities on a limited basis, but not to increase the level of monitoring, as GAO recommended.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense, in concert with the Chairman, JCS, should improve the oversight of joint training activities by ensuring that the appropriate DOD entities ensure that exercises held to achieve presence or access or other objectives include joint training tasks, to the extent possible.
Closed – Not Implemented
DOD does not plan to implement this recommendation. It commented that the Joint Commander is in the best position to determine training needs and the Joint Staff's role is not to critique training plans but to provide guidance and advice.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense, in concert with the Chairman, JCS, should improve the oversight of joint training activities by ensuring that the appropriate DOD entities ensure the development of measurable joint training standards and expedite their integration into joint training exercises so that the exercises can be more effectively evaluated.
Closed – Implemented
The Joint Staff has developed a list of common tasks and standards to be used for joint training and evaluations. These tasks and standards are to be incorporated by joint commanders as a common basis for training and evaluation and should deal with the problems that GAO identified.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense, in concert with the Chairman, JCS, should improve the oversight of joint training activities by ensuring that the appropriate DOD entities examine what additional resources might be used to permit more independent exercise evaluations to be made.
Closed – Implemented
DOD agreed to use independent personnel to perform evaluations of joint exercises, but did not agree to provide additional resources to perform more evaluations, as GAO recommended.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense, in concert with the Chairman, JCS, should improve the oversight of joint training activities by ensuring that the appropriate DOD entities close remedial action projects only after the effectiveness of corrective actions are demonstrated either in joint exercises or, if this is not appropriate, through alternative means.
Closed – Implemented
DOD concurred with this recommendation and plans to use joint exercises, and other means, to test the effectiveness of corrective actions.
Other Once these specific responsibilities have been assigned, J-7 should increase its monitoring of the related activities to ensure that the full range of desired management activities are effectively carried out.
Closed – Implemented
DOD agreed that the Joint Staff will continue to have frequent interaction with the services and Joint Commanders to improve the joint training program. It also agreed to take some action on the other management initiatives that GAO recommended, such as testing the effectiveness of corrective actions through joint exercises. However, DOD did not agree to take the full range of actions that GAO believed were necessary to monitor joint training. Its position is that the responsibility for managing joint training best belongs to Joint Commanders, not the Joint Staff.
Department of Defense To improve the uniformity of joint training and promote USACOM efforts to strengthen joint training and operational capabilities, the Secretary of Defense, in concert with the Chairman, JCS, should take appropriate actions to achieve a stronger consensus among CINC about the: (1) new USACOM strategies for training joint task force commanders and their staffs and the use of joint force packages; and (2) merits of the Joint Warfighting Center's technical assistance.
Closed – Implemented
DOD commented that many of the Joint Commanders' concerns have been resolved through an extensive consensus-building effort to develop joint training tasks and standards. These standards will form the basis for core training for Joint Task Forces. DOD has taken no action with regard to assessing the role of the Joint Warfighting Center.

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Armed forces abroadCombat readinessDefense contingency planningInteragency relationsMilitary forcesMilitary interventionMilitary operationsMilitary trainingTraining utilizationJoint training