Reserve Components

Opportunities to Improve National Guard and Reserve Policies and Programs Gao ID: NSIAD-89-27 November 17, 1988

GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) reserve components' management systems and practices to determine how the services could improve management to enhance reserve force capabilities.

GAO found that: (1) DOD did not develop force mix and mission assignment guidance because it had difficulty developing the methodology; (2) DOD had problems maintaining the updated personnel information necessary to train and mobilize the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR); (3) DOD did not know the capability of a large number of individual ready reservists, since it transferred personnel without adequate screening; and (4) no guidance existed in key management areas to determine personnel requirements and to utilize and train personnel. GAO also found that: (1) although DOD recently took actions to improve the status of reserve component equipment, shortages still existed and were a major factor affecting capability; (2) although Congress approved funds to increase reserve equipment procurement, the services reduced the amounts they planned to use for procuring the equipment; (3) the Army Reserve had difficulty using special reserve appropriations because some of its equipment requirements did not fit into its procurement actions; (4) although DOD did not separate reserve component equipment budgets as mandated, it presented an alternative for providing oversight that would establish reserve equipment expenditure minimums; and (5) certain Army National Guard and Reserve equipment distribution practices resulted in reductions in capability of some higher-priority units. In addition, GAO found that: (1) about 277,000 selected reservists did not have the required individual skills for their positions; (2) training time limited to 38 days a year constrained DOD from providing sufficient individual skill training; and (3) although the services had generally well-integrated financial and management information systems, they had long-standing accuracy and timeliness problems with their pay systems and slippages in their mobilization, management, and administrative information systems.

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.

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