Military Readiness: Opportunities Exist to Improve Completeness and Usefulness of Quarterly Reports to Congress

Congress and DoD need relevant, accurate, and timely readiness information to make informed decisions about the use of military forces, and related resource needs. To that end, Congress requires DoD to submit a quarterly readiness report addressing various elements related to overall readiness, personnel, training, and equipment. A committee report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 mandated that GAO report on the type of readiness information available to Congress and DoD decision makers and the reported readiness of U.S. forces. In May 2013, GAO provided a classified report on the readiness trends of DoD forces. For this report, GAO evaluated the following: (1) the extent to which DoD addressed required reporting elements in its quarterly readiness reports to Congress; and (2) what additional information, if any, could make the reports more useful. GAO analyzed various readiness reports and supporting documentation, and interviewed cognizant officials. GAO recommends that DoD analyze alternative sources of information that could be used to meet the required reporting elements, issue guidance on the type and amount of information to be included by each service, and incorporate contextual information to improve the clarity and usefulness of reported information. DoD generally agreed with the recommendations. Report to Congressional Committees.