Financial Management

Army Lacks Accountability and Control Over Equipment Gao ID: AIMD-93-31 September 30, 1993

GAO evaluated the Army's internal controls for managing equipment worth a reported $117 billion as of September 1992. The Army did not keep reliable information on the types, quantities, and locations of its equipment, potentially impairing the distribution, the deployment, and the readiness of these items and wasting resources. Equipment balances fluctuated for reasons no one could explain, differed from records kept by the units in possession of the equipment, and contained large amounts of equipment in transit between units. Even if the Army corrected these problems, it would still lack accurate information because units did not record equipment promptly or accurately. In addition, units did not complete physical counts that could have spotted erroneous balances, Army regulations did not ensure that the data posted to unit level records were accurate, and measures to ensure that units complied with existing regulations had not been widely implemented. The upshot is that the readiness of personnel and weapon systems may be impaired and that units had no guarantee that equipment was protected from loss and was being used as authorized.

GAO found that: (1) the Army's resources may be improperly wasted and its readiness impaired because the information it uses for equipment purchases, distribution, and deployment is not reliable; (2) CBSX contains unreliable information due to unexplained equipment balance fluctuations, poor unit records management, and accounting errors; (3) Army unit records often do not reflect on-hand equipment quantities and types because units do not record equipment promptly or accurately or complete physical counts; (4) Army regulations do not provide specific procedures to ensure that unit-level records are accurate and oversight measures have been implemented; (5) Army units cannot ensure that equipment is protected from loss or is being used as authorized; and (6) the Army needs to modify its procedures to improve unit inventory accounting, fully implement its oversight program, and improve regulations governing equipment records management.

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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