DOD uses term and temporary appointments to hire civilian personnel for non-permanent positions that have uncertain funding or workload. (Temporary appointments are generally shorter than term appointments.) DOD recently extended the duration of its term and temporary appointments. Term appointments can now last up to 8 years (versus 4 years), and temporary appointments can last up to 3 years (ve...

Across the federal government, 45 programs provide servicemembers, veterans, spouses, and dependents with help establishing civilian careers, including education and employment services. The programs frequently provided similar services to similar populations. For example, 25 programs offered educational counseling. The programs reported efforts to coordinate activities, such as co-locating educa...

The Federal Aviation Administration requires aircraft be repaired and approved for flight by mechanics who are “certificated.” FAA oversees the certification process of these mechanics and of repairmen who fix aircraft parts. We testified about federal data on this workforce as well as government and industry programs that support these workers. One of FAA’s goals is to promote the developm...

About 200,000 servicemembers transition to civilian life each year, according to DOD. Some veterans may struggle to find civilian employment. For example, a veteran may not know how his or her military training could apply to a civilian job. Federal law requires DOD and the Coast Guard to establish centers to provide help. We found they have established more than 300 employment assistance centers...

The Department of Defense’s My Career Advancement Account program helped about 21,000 military spouses in 2017, which is a more than 40% decline from 2011. The program is intended to help servicemembers' spouses to start or maintain careers given the hardships of military life. It can provide up to $4,000 for tuition or training to eligible spouses. DOD has promoted the program but we found so...

Contracts awarded by the Department of Defense can include work that is physically demanding and dangerous, like construction and manufacturing. We found some defense contractors had been cited for safety or health violations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn't collect data that could be used to match federal contracts with violations, so it's not always possible to know w...

We identified the available education and employment benefits to help servicemembers, veterans, and their families achieve civilian jobs. We found 11 agencies offering 45 programs. A 12th agency also administered a tax exclusion for GI Bill benefits, which allows recipients to exclude these benefits from their taxable income. We found no existing inventory that could easily give Congress or poten...

The Department of Defense's (DOD) 47,340 civilian employees who filed claims under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) made up 17 percent of FECA claimants in 2015, and DOD total-disability beneficiaries (i.e., with no capacity to work) were generally older than those from the rest of government. About 35 percent of DOD beneficiaries received medical benefits only, and 31 percent receiv...

Demonstration Project Performance Between August 2011 and August 2014, the Department of Labor (DOL) demonstrated relatively higher performance than the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) on three of five performance metrics in the Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010 (VBA).The relative performance was influenced—to a varying extent—by a number of factors, such as the investigative approach.Case Outco...

GAO found mixed evidence regarding the extent of a shortage of airline pilots, although regional airlines have reported difficulties finding sufficient numbers of qualified pilots over the past year. Specifically, looking at broad economic indicators, airline pilots have experienced a low unemployment rate—the most direct measure of a labor shortage; however, both employment and earnings have de...