Counternarcotics/Command and Management System

This audit was performed at the request of the House Appropriations Committee. The Counternarcotics/ Command and Management System (CN/CMS) is a satellite communications system providing the U.S. Southern Command and other Government agencies in Central and South America secure data, text, imagery, and voice transmission capability. The CN/CMS consists of 11 foreign-based communications sites that are linked to command authorities in the United States by satellite. The space segment of the CN/CMS is contractor operated and maintained. The CN/CMS is managed by the Department of State Diplomatic Telecommunications Service and is funded by DoD. Operation and maintenance costs during FY 1994 were about $17 million. The objectives of the audit were to evaluate the management of DoD contracts for the CN/CMS, to determine the reasons for the delay in transferring responsibility for the management and operation of the CN/CMS to the Diplomatic Telecommunications Service, and to evaluate the accuracy of the allegations concerning the CN/CMS.