Military Personnel: Perspectives on DoD's and the Military Services Use of Borrowed Military Personnel
Abstract
The House Armed Services Committee has questioned whether the Department of Defense (DOD) continues to divert servicemembers from their unit assignments to perform nonmilitary functions that could be performed by civilian employees. In 2015, we reported that the Army did not know the extent to which it used borrowed military personnel, and we recommended that the Army establish a requirement to collect, track, and report data on the use of borrowed military personnel and provide guidance to ensure that data collected are complete and accurate. Although the Army concurred with our recommendation at that time, Army officials also stated that it would be unreasonable to require the Army to undertake such a tracking requirement, since the Army policy states that it is acceptable to use soldiers for training missions or for temporary functions. In addition, in August 2020 Army officials stated that Army policy, to be updated by December 2020, will further restrict the use of borrowed military personnel. House Report 116-120, accompanying a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, included a provision for us to assess the levels and impacts of borrowed military personnel. This report examines DOD's and the military services' policies on the use of borrowed military personnel, the tracking and reporting of their use of borrowed military personnel, and any impacts of that use on readiness.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 18, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1149482
Entities
People
- Cary Russell
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office