Transportation Policies and Practices of the Department of Defense

In November 1977, GAO agreed to provide the House Committee on Appropriations with current information on transportation policies and practices of the Department of Defense (DOD) for use in fiscal year (FY) 1979 appropriation hearings. In January 1978, it was agreed that work should be terminated on the Military Personnel Appropriation following the suggestion that further work would be nonproductive since the actual obligations shown in the FY budget for 1978 equalled 95 percent of the estimated obligations for that year. Subsequent to this meeting, DOD officials asserted that the estimate for transportation of things in the Procurement Appropriation was based on formulas relating to the procurement program and was not their best estimate for these costs. The information furnished shows only the actual payments for the transportation of things in the Procurement Appropriation during the 5-month period from October 1977 through February 1978. Since historical data on disbursements by object class were not available beyond the period furnished, there is no basis for expressing an opinion on the validity of the projections.