Army Training

The internal control weaknesses in the Army's troop school program, first reported more than a decade ago, persist today, calling into question whether the Army is able to manage the program effectively and efficiently. Troop schools are run under contract by private colleges and supplement the job training given to soldiers by noncommissioned officers. As it now stands, expenditures for troop schools have not been justified. Most of the justifications GAO reviewed were not based on assessed performance of individual soldiers, as required, and none documented that troop schools were the most cost-effective alternative. At the schools, the Army continues to offer many courses without proper authorization; wastes money on unneeded courses; and allows contractors to administer tests to determine whether soldiers need training, despite the potential for creating false demand. The persistent nature of these problems clearly indicates that the Army has not followed up on the corrective actions it initiated in response to GAO's 1988 findings and recommendations.

GAO found that: (1) only 25 percent of the needs assessments prepared by Army installations indicated a performance deficiency in individual soldiers; (2) the Army did not document that troop schools were the most cost-effective alternative to meet training needs; (3) the Army has not adequately controlled troop school operations; (4) Army installations funded unauthorized courses and did not ensure that courses were consistent with Army standards and doctrine; and (5) the Army has not completed corrective actions in response to 1988 recommendations.

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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