The Department of Defense (DOD) uses term and temporary appointments to hire personnel to non-permanent positions that have uncertain funding or workload. During fiscal years 2016 through 2019, DOD increased term personnel by 40 percent and decreased temporary personnel by 3 percent, according to GAO analysis. According to GAO analysis of DOD data, during fiscal years 2016 through 2019: (1)Approx

The Department of Defense (DOD) has not routinely assessed climate-related risks faced by its contractors as part of its acquisition and supply processes, through which DOD obtains contracted goods and services. DOD's acquisition process includes long-term planning activities such as life-cycle sustainment planning. Its supply chain process includes steps to identify and assess potential disrupti

The Department of Defense (DOD) currently plans to invest over $1.8 trillion to acquire new major weapon systems such as aircraft, ships, and satellites. At the same time, the department is investing billions more in information technology (IT) systems and capabilities that it expects to either prototype or field rapidly through a new middle-tier acquisition pathway. In recent years, Congress ena

The Department of Defense's (DOD) current initiative to transition to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), which began in April 2017, follows at least two prior attempts to implement IPv6 that were halted by DOD. In one effort that began in approximately 2003, DOD initially did make progress implementing IPv6 on its systems, but then the department ended the effort due to security risks and a lack

GAO began 49 new audits that involved the Department of Defense (DOD) in the second quarter of fiscal year 2020. DOD generally scheduled entrance conferences (initial meetings between agency officials and GAO staff) for those audits within 14 days of GAO's notification of the audit, and held the conferences within 30 days. These initial meetings allow GAO to communicate its audit objectives and e

The Department of Defense (DOD) experienced slight increases in the overall percentage of female active-duty servicemembers from fiscal year 2004 through 2018 (15.1 percent in fiscal year 2004 to 16.5 percent in fiscal year 2018), with those percentages varying by pay grade category (see figure). During that period, female enlisted and commissioned officers had higher annual attrition rates than

The Departments of State (State) and Commerce (Commerce) have each provided guidance and outreach to support exporters' understanding of and compliance with their separate export control regulations. Exporters, including universities, are subject to these regulations if they ship export-controlled items overseas or if they share such items, including technology or source code, with foreign person

In March 2019, GAO identified 91 priority recommendations for the Department of Defense (DOD). Since then, DOD has implemented 17 of those recommendations, leading to improvements in operational contract support, readiness rebuilding efforts, and the Navy's force structure, among other areas. Additionally, GAO closed one priority recommendation related to DOD financial management as unimplemented

From fiscal years 2013 through 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) increased its reliance on contracts for services, particularly those in categories that may need heightened management attention, such as drafting policy documents. These services include functions that are closely associated with inherently governmental, critical, or special interest, which could put the government at

The Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program is one of the primary ways the U.S. government supports its foreign partners, by annually selling them billions of dollars of military equipment and services. However, gaps in the Defense Security Cooperation Agency's (DSCA) oversight of Department of Defense (DOD) components' activities increase the risk that fees collected into the FMS transportation acc