General and Flag Officers: DOD's Draft Study Needs Adjustments

Highlights

GAO discussed the preliminary results of its review of the Department of Defense's (DOD) draft general and flag officer requirements report.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of Defense	Before the final report on general and flag officer requirements is sent to the Congress, the Secretary of Defense should modify the current draft report to include an explanation of the criteria used by the service secretaries to modify the results of the services' studies, and a statement about whether the numbers represent the actual requirements for general and flag officers.	Closed – Not Implemented DOD is awaiting analysis of the impact of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) on the need for generals and flag officers before finalizing its report.
Department of Defense	Before the final report on general and flag officer requirements is sent to the Congress, the Secretary of Defense should modify the current draft report to include an adjustment to the consolidated draft recommendations to eliminate double-counting.	Closed – Not Implemented DOD is awaiting analysis of the impact of the QDR on the need for generals and flag officers before finalizing its report.
Department of Defense	Before the final report on general and flag officer requirements is sent to the Congress, the Secretary of Defense should modify the current draft report to include an evaluation of the potential to convert non-military essential general and flag officer positions to civilian status.	Closed – Not Implemented DOD is awaiting analysis of the impact of the QDR on the need for generals and flag officers before finalizing its report.
Department of Defense	Before the final report on general and flag officer requirements is sent to the Congress, the Secretary of Defense should modify the current draft report to include an explanation of the mechanism to ensure that the number of colonel's/Navy captain's positions be reduced by the same number of added general and flag officers.	Closed – Not Implemented DOD is awaiting analysis of the impact of the QDR on the need for generals and flag officers before finalizing its report.

Full Report

Full Report (14 pages)

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National Defense

Civilian employeesMilitary cost controlMilitary downsizingMilitary officersMilitary reserve personnelPersonnel managementMilitary forcesForce structureDefense budgets