Defense Reorganization

This briefing report reviews the Defense Department's (DOD) implementation of provisions of the Goldwater-Nichols DOD Reorganization Act of 1986 dealing with defense agencies. That legislation (1) states that a single DOD agency may be designated to perform a supply or service activity that is common to more than one military department, (2) requires that the overall supervision of each defense agency so designated be assigned to either a civilian office within the Office of the Secretary of Defense listed in the act or to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, (3) spells out how the Joint Chiefs of Staff should oversee the combat support agencies, and (4) requires periodic reviews to be done.

GAO found that: (1) since enactment of the DOD Reorganization Act, DOD has established three new agencies, including the On-Site Inspection Agency, the Defense Commissary Agency, and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, to carry out new functions, consolidate existing military service functions, and standardize finance and accounting practices; (2) DOD has redesignated one defense agency and expanded and modified missions of several other defense agencies to greater centralize its common service and supply functions; (3) DOD oversight has evolved since the enactment of the DOD Reorganization Act, and now involves a coordinated civilian and military effort with feedback systems for both the Secretary of Defense's overall administrative role and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) military capability role; (4) in addressing the oversight of defense agencies, the act required the Secretary of Defense to assign responsibility for the supervision of each defense agency to a civilian officer within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, establish procedures that ensure full and effective review of program recommendations and budget proposals of each defense agency, and periodically review the services and supplies provided by each defense agency; and (5) the Secretary of Defense and JCS have conducted required periodic reviews, and JCS has submitted two biennial reports on the combat support agencies, as required.