The Department of Defense (DOD) has used human capital flexibilities extensively to hire, recruit, and retain its civilian acquisition workforce. Since 2014, usage rates for hiring flexibilities—alternatives to the traditional, competitive hiring process—have generally increased. DOD leadership has encouraged its hiring personnel to use these flexibilities, such as direct hire authorities, to

The Department of Defense's (DOD) Defense Travel System (DTS)—the primary system DOD uses to process travel payments—accounts for most of DOD's travel payments. DOD spent $18.3 billion on DTS travel payments from fiscal years 2016 through 2018, while incurring a reported $965.5 million in improper travel payments. In that period, DOD averaged $6.1 billion in DTS travel payments and $322 milli

Several entities within the Departments of Defense (DOD) and State (State) are involved in human rights training. DOD's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) conducts program management for DOD's efforts to build the capacity of foreign security forces. The human rights training required by 10 U.S.C § 333 is provided exclusively by the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies (DIILS

The staff of the Defense Acquisition Regulations System are responsible for making changes in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS)—the Department of Defense's (DOD) regulation augmenting the Federal Acquisition Regulation, which guides government purchases of products and services. They begin their process by first tracking legislation that may affect acquisition regula

Within the Department of Defense (DOD) and its components, such as military departments, combatant commands, defense agencies, and field activities, more than 30 inspector general (IG) offices have been established to provide oversight and assistance through audits, inspections, investigations, and evaluations. GAO did not identify significant examples of fragmentation, overlap, or duplication in

Similar processes are used for approving original appointments of military officers, such as those who graduate from a military academy, and federally recognizing state promotions of National Guard officers. The military services develop and submit to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) officer appointment packages, which include one or more "scrolls" (lists of names nominated for appoin

Congress and the Department of Defense (DOD) have changed the contract financing legislative and regulatory framework since DOD last performed a comprehensive assessment, including eliminating a requirement that contracting officers justify a need for contract financing and establishing a preference for performance-based payments. However, Defense Contract Management Agency data indicates that th

This special report is GAO's 17th annual assessment of the Department of Defense's (DOD) $1.69 trillion portfolio of 82 major weapon systems acquisition programs. This report (1) examines changes in the portfolio since last year, (2) evaluates DOD's actions in areas related to recent, selected acquisition reforms, and (3) offers a quick look at cost and schedule performance of 51 individual weapo

F-35 aircraft performance is falling short of warfighter requirements—that is, aircraft cannot perform as many missions or fly as often as required. This lower-than-desired aircraft performance is due largely to F-35 spare parts shortages and difficulty in managing and moving parts around the world: (1) Spare parts shortages and limited repair capabilities. F-35 aircraft were unable to fly near

In April 2018, GAO identified 85 priority recommendations for the Department of Defense (DOD). Since then, DOD has implemented 17 of those recommendations, and GAO has closed one as unimplemented because DOD actions made it no longer applicable. In March 2019, GAO identified 24 additional priority recommendations for DOD, bringing the total number of open priority recommendations to 91. These rec