Financial Management: Opportunities to Improve Experience and Training of Key Navy Comptrollers
AIMD-97-58
Published: May 05, 1997. Publicly Released: May 29, 1997.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed opportunities to improve the experience and training of key Navy comptrollers, focusing on: (1) personnel practices and the education and experience of Navy officers serving in comptroller positions; and (2) options for strengthening these practices.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Navy identifies which key military comptroller positions can be converted to civilian status in order to gain greater continuity, technical competency, and costs savings. | DOD concurred with this recommendation, and on July 11, 1997, the Director, Fiscal Management Division, sent a letter to all Navy commands to identify comptroller positions which can be converted to civilian status in order to gain greater continuity, technical competency, and cost savings. This memorandum was distributed in conjunction with the Biennial Financial Management Subspecialty Validation Review process, which required a thorough review of key military comptroller billets with an emphasis on converting or eliminating positions. As a result of this review, the number of key comptroller billets retaining a military officer decreased by 24 percent, to 69 billets. The Navy also... reduced the number of comptroller positions that are filled with Navy line officers. These line officers' primary occupations are in surface weapon, aviation, submarine or other operational areas rather than financial management. As a result of the Navy's action, 46 percent of key comptroller positions are now assigned to line officers, compared to a previous 51 percent. Reducing the number of positions that are filled by line officers should enable the Navy to fill its comptroller positions with individuals who will provide greater continuity and who will have greater financial management experience and accounting education to better assist the Navy in addressing various governmentwide financial management reform initiatives.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should, for those comptroller positions identified for conversion to civilian status, ensure that those positions are filled by individuals who possess both the proper education and experience needed to meet the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program core (JFMIP) competencies. | The Navy has taken action to upgrade the experience level required for the 69 key comptroller positions, all but four of the Navy's comptroller positions now require graduate level education, and 30 percent of the positions now require experience in financial management prior to being assigned to a comptroller position. Further, the Navy has also taken action to upgrade the financial management courses provided to comptroller personnel through the DOD Professional Military Comptroller School at the Air University, Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, AL and the Naval Postgraduate School. In addition, the Navy's guidelines for hiring civilians for comptroller positions is based on the Office of...
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should, for those comptroller positions that should remain as military billets, establish a career path in financial management that ensures that military officers are prepared, both in terms of education and experience, for comptrollership responsibilities. |
DOD did not concur with this recommendation. With the possible exception that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy has suggested that longer careers for officers with critical skills in specific functional areas should be studied, GAO has found little in its ongoing financial audit work with the Navy that indicates that it is likely that Navy will reconsider its adamant stance against a career path for Navy military personnel in financial management.
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Accounting proceduresCivilian employeesEducationFinancial managementEmployee trainingStaff utilizationNaval personnelMilitary officersPersonnel managementTraining utilization