Defense Management
Installation of Telecommunications Equipment in the Homes of Volunteers Gao ID: GAO-03-838R June 16, 2003The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 required that GAO review the Department of Defense's (DOD) use of the authority to install telephone lines and any necessary telecommunications equipment in the homes of persons who provide voluntary services for the military. These volunteers, in addition to their other social service activities, provide a link between military units and the families of servicemembers deployed away from home. The legislation required us to submit the results of our review within 2 years after the department issued implementing regulations. The department issued its regulation in March 2002. This report discusses (1) the extent of the military services' use of the authority and (2) the internal controls that have been established to ensure equipment is used only for authorized purposes.
The military services report they have made little use of the legislative authority to install telecommunications equipment in the homes of volunteers. While DOD has issued implementing guidance, the services have not issued their own guidance. It is not clear to what extent issuance of service guidance will lead to increased use of this authority. Perhaps more significantly, as alternatives to in-home installation, some military components have increased their authorized use of cell phones, provided volunteers with telephone credit cards, and permitted access to phones at volunteer offices. Several family policy officials said that these alternatives are easier to manage than in-home installation and would likely limit the future installation of in-home telecommunications equipment. In addition, various service officials told us that servicemembers' access to calling cards and various other means of communication, including e-mail, has facilitated communications between deployed servicemembers and their families. Air Force officials told us they do not use volunteers, as the Army and Navy do, to maintain contact between deployed personnel and their families; so they have no current plans to use the authority. The services are relying on existing internal controls to ensure authorized use of telecommunications equipment by volunteers. Under these provisions, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and National Guard Bureau officials told us they reimburse volunteers for phone calls made from their homes if the volunteers provide proper supporting documentation, such as itemized monthly phone bills. Likewise, various service officials told us that representatives from their units typically review monthly cell phone bills before they are paid. Service family policy officials noted that, if telecommunications equipment were installed in volunteers' homes, a representative of the approving official would review the supporting documentation before the bill would be paid.
GAO-03-838R, Defense Management: Installation of Telecommunications Equipment in the Homes of Volunteers
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June 16, 2003:
The Honorable John Warner:
Chairman:
The Honorable Carl Levin:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on Armed Services:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Duncan Hunter:
Chairman:
The Honorable Ike Skelton:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on Armed Services:
House of Representatives:
Subject: Defense Management: Installation of Telecommunications
Equipment in the Homes of Volunteers:
This letter responds to a requirement in the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000[Footnote 1] that we review the
Department of Defense's (DOD) use of authority to install telephone
lines and any necessary telecommunications equipment in the homes of
persons who provide voluntary services for the military. These
volunteers, in addition to their other social service activities,
provide a link between military units and the families of
servicemembers deployed away from home. The legislation required us to
submit the results of our review within 2 years after the department
issued implementing regulations. The department issued its regulation
in March 2002.[Footnote 2] This letter discusses (1) the extent of the
military services' use of the authority and (2) the internal controls
that have been established to ensure equipment is used only for
authorized purposes.
In performing our work, we talked with officials from the Office of the
Secretary of Defense and each military service's family policy office
to obtain information on the current and expected use of the
telecommunications authority and the internal controls over any funds
expended under the program. We also requested that Army, Navy, and
National Guard family policy officials query a limited number of their
volunteers in areas with high deployments to determine the extent that
the telecommunications equipment has been installed in the home of
volunteers. We also talked with various service officials and several
volunteers about the telecommunications equipment used to perform
volunteer activities.
Results in Brief:
The military services report they have made little use of the
legislative authority to install telecommunications equipment in the
homes of volunteers. While DOD has issued implementing guidance, the
services have not issued their own guidance. It is not clear to what
extent issuance of service guidance will lead to increased use of this
authority. Perhaps more significantly, as alternatives to in-home
installation, some military components have increased their authorized
use of cell phones, provided volunteers with telephone credit cards,
and permitted access to phones at volunteer offices. Several family
policy officials said that these alternatives are easier to manage than
in-home installation and would likely limit the future installation of
in-home telecommunications equipment. In addition, various service
officials told us that servicemembers' access to calling cards and
various other means of communication, including e-mail, has facilitated
communications between deployed servicemembers and their families. Air
Force officials told us they do not use volunteers, as the Army and the
Navy do, to maintain contact between deployed personnel and their
families; so they have no current plans to use the authority.
The services are relying on existing internal controls to ensure
authorized use of telecommunications equipment by volunteers. Under
these provisions, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and National Guard Bureau
officials told us they reimburse volunteers for phone calls made from
their homes if the volunteers provide proper supporting documentation,
such as itemized monthly phone bills. Likewise, various service
officials told us that representatives from their units typically
review monthly cell phone bills before they are paid. Service family
policy officials[Footnote 3] noted that, if telecommunications
equipment were installed in volunteers' homes, a representative of the
approving official would review the supporting documentation before the
bill would be paid.
Based on information obtained suggesting limited current and expected
use of the authority, we concluded our review and are not making any
recommendations.
Background:
During the mid-1990s, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy
for Manpower and Reserve Affairs became the DOD proponent for
installing telecommunications equipment in the homes of Navy and Marine
Corps volunteers. Navy officials saw a need to provide the Navy's and
Marine Corps' primary volunteers with relief from a perceived burden of
over-using their personal telephones to perform volunteer activities
and not always being reimbursed for any added costs. Navy officials
felt that a second phone line, installed by the local phone company, in
the volunteer's home could alleviate this burden. The National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 authorized DOD to install
telephone lines and any necessary telecommunications equipment in the
private residences of persons who provide voluntary services for the
military components including the Coast Guard. DOD issued implementing
regulations in March 2002.
Services Have Rarely Used the Authority for In-Home Telecommunication
Services:
Our review indicates that use of the legislative authority to install
telecommunications equipment in individual volunteers' homes has been
very limited. This was confirmed in our direct contact with volunteers
and officials and query results from three volunteer groups, through
which we determined only one piece of telecommunications equipment had
been installed in the home of a volunteer.
There are several reasons why the authority has had or is likely to
have limited use. First, although DOD has issued its implementing
guidance, the services have not issued their guidance. Officials from
the Army and the Navy said that the authority is not yet a well-known
benefit in the volunteer community. Officials from the Army, the Navy
and the Marine Corps said that their implementing guidance has been
developed and should be approved within the next 6 months; however,
what impact this may have on usage is not clear. Secondly, and perhaps
more significantly, volunteer program officials in the Army, the Navy,
and the National Guard said that the services, under existing
authority,[Footnote 4] are increasing their use of cell phones and in
some cases telephone credit cards because they are easier to manage. As
a result, they expect limited installation of telecommunications
equipment in the homes of volunteers. In addition, various service
officials told us that servicemembers' access to calling cards and
various other means of communication, including e-mail if available,
has facilitated communications between deployed servicemembers and
their families and could reduce the need for in-home installation. Air
Force officials told us they have volunteers; however, they are not
used to stay in contact with deployed units as Army and Navy volunteers
are. Thus, the Air Force has no current plans to use the authority.
Our work identified only one piece of telecommunications equipment
installed in a volunteer's home. The Navy paid to have a fax machine
installed in the home of a Navy volunteer who was staying in contact
with a deployed Navy frigate. However, the volunteer stated that
because she uses the fax machine infrequently for her volunteer duties
and the cost is nominal, she has not sought reimbursement from her
command. This volunteer also noted that her command provided her with a
cell phone, which she uses regularly, to perform her volunteer duties.
Information made available from selected Army, Navy, and National Guard
units showed that alternatives to in-home installation are more often
used to provide telecommunications services for volunteers:
* A family policy official from the Army's Southeast Region in Atlanta,
Georgia, queried volunteers at Fort Bragg and Fort Stewart and found no
Army-provided telecommunications equipment installed in their homes. At
Fort Bragg, some volunteers are reportedly provided cell phones at a
cost to the Army of about $30.00 a month per cell phone.
* A Norfolk, Virginia, area Navy official queried about 55 volunteers
at a volunteer meeting and found that 8 had been provided cell phones
by their local command and 1 of these volunteers also had a Navy-
provided fax machine, which we discussed earlier. One Navy volunteer
estimated her cell phone charges, which are paid by the Navy, at about
$40.00 a month.
* The Chief of Family Programs at the National Guard Bureau queried
eight state volunteer programs[Footnote 5] and found that no National
Guard-provided telecommunications equipment was installed in any
volunteers' homes. These states use other methods, such as providing
family policy office phones or prepaid phone cards for long distance
calls and reimbursing calls made on the volunteer's home phone, as
alternatives to in-home installation.
Services Are Relying on Existing Internal Controls to Prevent Abuse:
Family policy officials are relying on existing internal
controls[Footnote 6] to ensure any funds expended by volunteers for
telecommunications are appropriate. Currently, the Army, the Navy, the
Marine Corps, and the National Guard Bureau reimburse volunteers for
phone calls made from their private phones if the volunteer provides
supporting documentation, such as itemized monthly phone bills. We were
told that service officials review this documentation before each bill
is paid. This internal control procedure is also used to control the
authorized use of cell phones provided to volunteers. Service family
policy officials stated they would rely on the same procedures for any
telecommunications equipment that was installed in a volunteer's home.
Basically, the bill would either go directly to the command or the
volunteer would have to submit supporting documentation. In either
case, we were told the bill would be reviewed at the local level before
it is paid.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
In providing oral comments on a draft of this letter, a representative
of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and
Readiness concurred with our findings.
Scope and Methodology:
To obtain information on the military services' use of the authority,
we interviewed officials from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of
the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, the Secretary of the Navy's
Office of Family Policy and the Navy's Personnel Center, the Army's
Office of Family Policy at the Army Community and Family Support
Center, the Secretary of the Air Force's Office of Family Matters, and
the Marine Corps' Family Team Building Branch. In addition, we
interviewed the Chief of Family Programs at the National Guard Bureau.
We did not include the Coast Guard in the scope of work. We obtained
information about the use of the authority by requesting that three
volunteer program officials who work in highly deploying areas query
their volunteers about this issue. The officials used various informal
means to collect the information, which involved discussions with or
contacting numerous service volunteers in the Norfolk, Virginia, area;
Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Stewart, Georgia, areas in the
Army's Southeast Region; and numerous volunteers from eight state
programs in the National Guard. We also talked with various service
officials and several volunteers about the types of telecommunications
equipment used to perform volunteer activities.
To determine the types of internal controls currently being used, we
reviewed service guidance dealing with volunteer programs, family
policy, or management controls, and interviewed Army, Navy, and
National Guard family policy officials on the controls for reimbursing
volunteers for phone calls made from their personal home phones or
service provided cell phones. In addition, we interviewed officials
from the services' family policy offices to determine internal controls
that might be used if telecommunications equipment were installed in a
volunteer's home.
We performed our work from November 2002 to May 2003 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards.
We are sending copies of this letter to the Secretaries of Defense, the
Army, the Navy, and the Air Force; the Commandant of the Marine Corps;
and the Office of Management and Budget. We will also make copies
available to others upon request. In addition, the letter is available
at no charge on GAO's Web site at http://www.gao.gov. If you have any
questions concerning this letter, please contact me on (202) 512-8412.
Key contributors to this assignment were Michael Kennedy and Richard
Meeks.
Barry W. Holman, Director:
Defense Capabilities and Management:
Signed by Barry W. Holman:
(350296):
FOOTNOTES
[1] Pub. L. No. 106-65, section 371.
[2] DOD Instruction 1100.21, Voluntary Services in the Department of
Defense, March 11, 2002.
[3] Volunteer programs are under the direction of component family
policy offices.
[4] 10 U.S.C., 1588(e).
[5] The National Guard Bureau surveyed volunteer programs in Arkansas,
Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Florida, Kentucky,
and Iowa.
[6] Internal controls are set up to provide reasonable assurance on the
part of managers that resources are used consistent with the agency's
mission and that they are protected from waste, fraud, and
mismanagement.
