Military Personnel: DOD Needs to Conduct a Data-Driven Analysis of Active Military Personnel Levels Required to Implement the Defense Strategy;Report to the Congress

摘要

Congress recently increased active military personnel levels for the Army and the Marine Corps. The Secretary of Defense has undertaken initiatives to use military personnel more efficiently such as rebalancing high-demand skills between active and reserve components. In view of concerns about active personnel, GAO reviewed the ways in which the Department of Defense (DOD) determines personnel requirements and is managing initiatives to assign a greater proportion of active personnel to warfigthing duties. GAO assessed the extent to which the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) (1) has conducted a data-based analysis of active military personnel needed to implement the national defense strategy and (2) has a plan for making more efficient use of active military personnel and evaluating the plans results. To facilitate decision making on active military personnel levels and achieve greater efficiency, GAO recommends that the Secretary of Defense (1) establish, as part of the next quadrennial review, an OSDled, systematic approach to assess active personnel levels needed to execute the defense strategy and report its analysis and conclusions to Congress and (2) develop a plan to manage and evaluate DODs initiatives designed to assign a greater portion of active personnel to warfighting positions. DOD agreed with the recommendations.