Combating Terrorism: Status of DOD Efforts to Protect Its Force Overseas
NSIAD-97-207
Published: Jul 21, 1997. Publicly Released: Jul 21, 1997.
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Highlights
GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) efforts to protect U.S. forces from terrorist attacks, focusing on: (1) measures taken at overseas U.S. bases to enhance the security of deployed personnel; and (2) recent DOD initiatives to improve its antiterrorism program.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop common standards and procedures to include standardized vulnerability assessments to ensure a consistent level of quality and to provide a capability to compare the results from different sites. |
DOD has addressed and acted on the recommendation. The joint staff is providing the program of instruction used by the Defense Special Weapons Agency to train the Joint Staff Integrated Vulnerability Assessment Team to the services and combatant commands.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop common standards and procedures to include DOD-wide physical security standards that are measurable yet provide a means for deviations when required by local circumstances. |
DOD's final response to the report has not been received. However, in comments on the draft report DOD did not concur with this recommendation. The Department believes that the establishment of DOD-wide physical security standards are not necessary. The Department believes that the combatant commanders should develop physical security standards for their AOR.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop common standards and procedures to include procedures to maintain greater consistency among commands in their implementation of threat condition security measures. |
DOD believes that the level of instruction and guidance provided to field commanders is sufficient. It sees no need to be more specific and believes that to do so would constitute telling commanders how to do their jobs.
|
| Department of Defense | To ensure that security responsibility for DOD personnel overseas is clear, the Secretary of Defense should take the necessary steps to ensure that the memorandum of understanding now under discussion with the Department of State is signed expeditiously. |
The Memorandum was signed on December 16, 1997.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should provide the geographic combatant commanders with the guidance to successfully negotiate implementation agreements with chiefs of mission. |
This was included in the memorandum signed on December 16, 1997.
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AntiterrorismArmed forces abroadCombating terrorismExplosivesFacility securityHomeland securityMilitary basesMilitary personnelTerroristsTruck bombs