Defense Reform Initiative: Organization, Status, and Challenges
NSIAD-99-87
Published: Apr 21, 1999. Publicly Released: Apr 21, 1999.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reported on: (1) actions taken through the Defense Reform Initiative (DRI) management structure to facilitate achieving the program's objective; and (2) progress the Department of Defense (DOD) made in implementing individual reform initiatives.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | To strengthen the Defense reform effort, the Secretary of Defense should take the necessary actions to bring all major business process and infrastructure reform initiatives, including logistics and financial management reform, under the DRI program and follow the framework provided by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 to establish a more comprehensive, integrated strategy and action plan for reforming the Department's major business processes and support activities. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD has been partially responsive to the recommendation in that it has brought financial management and logistics reform efforts under the purview of the DRI. It has also incorporated some aspects of the DRI into its Fiscal Year 1999/2000 GPRA Performance Plan. DOD also plans to develop better performance metrics for the initiatives in the expanded DRI. However, DOD does not plan to develop a comprehensive integrated strategy and action plan for managing the DRI; DOD does not believe it would benefit from such a strategy and action plan because it would not be completed in time to serve the current Administration. In a subsequent report on the DRI(GAO/NSIAD-00-72)we incorporated this recommendation under a matters for consideration to the Congress.
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| Department of Defense | To strengthen the Defense reform effort, the Secretary of Defense should take the necessary actions to more fully identify investment funding requirements for the major reform initiatives and Department-wide funding targets for the DRI program and communicate them to Congress during the annual budget process. |
Closed – Not Implemented
DOD did not act on this recommendation. It did not see the need to identify funding requirements for the major reform initiatives and Department-wide funding targets for the DRI program. DOD's rationale is that placing an overall cost on the DRI program and including the cost as a separate item in the budget would set up an easy target for budget-cutters. DOD continued funding the various initiatives via the normal budget process-using Program Budget Decisions. Because GAO believes this is a key recommendation, it again addressed this issue in a subsequent report on the DRI (NSIAD-00-72). However, this report included the recommendation as a matter for congressional consideration.
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Topics
Defense budgetsDefense cost controlDefense economic analysisFederal agency reorganizationFinancial managementMilitary downsizingPerformance measuresPrivatizationReductions in forceManagement reengineering