The Army Inspector General's Inspections--Changing From a Compliance to a Systems Emphasis

Gao ID: FGMSD-80-1 October 30, 1979

GAO reviewed the Army's inspector general operations and found several ways of strengthening their inspection system.

The thrust of inspections by Army personnel at lower organizational levels should be changed. Inspection reports below the headquarters level contained many nonmission related, insignificant findings. Causes of problems were often not developed because the inspections superficially covered many broad subjects in a very short time. The thrust of the inspections should be shifted from a compliance approach to one which would identify problems by tracing them through the system. Some lower level inspector general offices relied heavily on temporary inspectors who took part in the inspections and returned to their regular jobs. This resulted in reduced objectivity. More use of civilian personnel in professional positions is needed. Overinspection and duplication are problems. The Department of Defense policy regarding the release of Inspector General reports as implemented by the Army for this review seemed a workable method for reviewing and obtaining copies of closed Army inspection reports.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: George L. Egan Team: General Accounting Office: Financial and General Management Studies Division Phone: (202) 275-5824


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