This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-03-1111 entitled 'Coast Guard: New Communication System to Support Search and Rescue Faces Challenges' which was released on October 30, 2003. This text file was formatted by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. 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Report to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives: September 2003: COAST GUARD: New Communication System to Support Search and Rescue Faces Challenges: [Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-1111] GAO-03- 1111: GAO Highlights: Highlights of GAO-03-1111, a report to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives Why GAO Did This Study: Search and rescue—one of the Coast Guard’s oldest missions—involves minimizing the loss of life, injury, and property damage by aiding people and boats in distress. The Coast Guard has previously reported that its 30-year-old search and rescue communication system, called the National Distress and Response System, has several deficiencies and is difficult to maintain. Thus, the Coast Guard contracted to replace and modernize it with a new system, called Rescue 21. GAO was asked to identify the status and plans of the Coast Guard’s acquisition of Rescue 21 and the technical and program risks associated with Rescue 21. What GAO Found: Rescue 21’s original schedule, which called for it to achieve initial operating capability by September 2003, has been postponed, and the Coast Guard has not yet finalized a new schedule. This postponement was due in part to the development of the system taking longer than planned. GAO reviewed the Coast Guard’s management of three risk areas associated with Rescue 21: * Test management. Scheduled completion dates for key tests are still being determined. These key tests (formal qualification testing, system integration testing, and operational testing and evaluation) are incremental tests that the Coast Guard is planning to perform before reaching initial operating capability. Completion dates are not yet set because the Coast Guard decided to postpone initial operating capability due to delays in the original test schedule, which resulted in increased risks associated with compressing and overlapping key tests (see figure). In addition, key deliverables, including test plans, are still outstanding, and no scheduled completion dates exist. * Requirements management. The Coast Guard has a process in place for managing system requirements. * Risk management. The Coast Guard has a program in place for identifying, prioritizing, and minimizing risks. Two high risks identified by the Coast Guard are software development and environmental concerns related to the construction of new antenna sites, which may delay the implementation of Rescue 21. What GAO Recommends: GAO recommends, in part, that the Secretary of Homeland Security direct the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard to establish a new schedule for critical testing phases and initial operating capability and ensure that milestones are established for completing test plans for formal qualification testing, system integration testing, and operational testing and evaluation. In commenting on a draft of our report, Coast Guard officials generally agreed with GAO’s findings and recommendations and provided technical corrections, which were incorporated as appropriate. www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-1111. To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on the link above. For more information, contact David A. Powner at (202) 512-9286 or pownerd@gao.gov. [End of section] Contents: Letter: Recommendations: Agency Comments: Appendix: Appendix I: The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An Update: Letter September 30, 2003: The Honorable Frank A. LoBiondo Chairman The Honorable Bob Filner Ranking Minority Member Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure House of Representatives: The National Distress and Response System is a significant component of the United States Coast Guard's search and rescue program. However, Coast Guard officials have reported that the 30-year-old system has several deficiencies and is difficult to maintain. In September 2002, the Coast Guard contracted with General Dynamics Decision Systems (General Dynamics) to modernize and replace the National Distress and Response System with a system called Rescue 21. As you requested, our objectives were to identify the (1) status and plans of the Coast Guard's acquisition of Rescue 21 and (2) technical and programmatic risks associated with Rescue 21. To identify the status and plans for acquiring Rescue 21, we analyzed Rescue 21's acquisition strategy and cost and schedule estimates. We also compared original Rescue 21 plans with current strategies. To identify the technical and programmatic risks associated with Rescue 21, we reviewed key Coast Guard acquisition documents, including test plans, requirements documents, the risk watch list, and risk mitigation plans. We performed our work at the Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C.; the Coast Guard group site in Chincoteague, Va.; and General Dynamics in Scottsdale, Ariz. We conducted our work from November 2002 through June 2003 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. On August 13, 2003, we provided your offices with a status briefing on the results of this review, which is included as appendix I. The purpose of this letter is to provide the published briefing slides to you and to officially transmit our recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security. In brief, we reported that the Coast Guard's original schedule for reaching initial operating capability by September 2003 had been postponed and that the Coast Guard had not yet finalized a new schedule. The postponement of the schedule for reaching initial operating capability was due in part to the system's development taking longer than planned. In reviewing the Coast Guard's test management practices, we found that the Coast Guard postponed key tests in part because prior schedules showed delay, overlap, and compression of tests, which increased the risk that all requirements would not be tested. In addition, schedules for key tests and deliverables, including test plans, were still outstanding. These key tests (formal qualification testing, system integration testing, and operational testing and evaluation) are incremental tests that the Coast Guard is planning to perform before reaching initial operating capability. We also determined that the Coast Guard has developed key documentation used for managing system requirements and that the Coast Guard has a program in place for identifying, prioritizing, and minimizing risks. Recommendations: To mitigate Rescue 21 risks and ensure that adequate testing occurs and all requirements are fulfilled so that the deployed system will work as specified, we are recommending that the Secretary of Homeland Security direct the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard to: * establish a new schedule for critical testing phases and initial operating capability and: * ensure that milestones are established for completing test plans for formal qualification testing, system integration testing, and operational testing and evaluation and that test plans address all requirements of the system. Agency Comments: In providing oral comments on a draft of this report, Coast Guard officials, including the Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Project Manager, stated that they generally agreed with our findings and recommendations. Coast Guard officials also stated that the Coast Guard is actively working with General Dynamics to jointly develop a new schedule that considers all the risk factors identified in this report. In addition, Coast Guard officials provided technical corrections that we incorporated in this report, where appropriate. : As we agreed with your staff, unless you publicly announce the contents of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution of it until 30 days from the date of this letter. At that time, we will send copies to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, and other interested parties. Copies will be made available to others upon request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at [Hyperlink, http:// www.gao.gov.] http://www.gao.gov. If you have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-9286 or by e-mail at [Hyperlink, pownerd@gao.gov] p [Hyperlink, pownerd@gao.gov] ownerd@gao.gov. Sophia Harrison, Richard Hung, David Noone, Colleen Phillips, Karl Seifert, and Eric Winter were major contributors to this report. David A. Powner Director (Acting), Information Technology Management Issues: Signed by David A. Powner: [End of section] Appendixes: [End of section] Appendix I: The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An Update: [See PDF for image] [End of figure] [End of section] (310443):