Overseas Contingency Operations Alternatives Identified to the Approach to Fund War-Related Activities
Abstract
Since 2001, DOD has received more than $1.8 trillion in OCO funds. DOD defines "contingency operations" as small, medium, or large-scale military operations, while "base" activities include operating support for installations, civilian pay, and other costs that would be incurred, regardless of contingency operations. Congress separately appropriates amounts for base and OCO activities into the same appropriation accounts and directs how funds are to be spent by designating amounts in conference reports or explanatory statements accompanying the annual appropriations acts. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 included a provision for GAO to report on the feasibility of separating OCO expenditures from other DOD expenditures. This report (1) describes internal controls that selected DOD components use to separately account for OCO and base amounts during budget execution and (2) identifies and examines alternatives that Congress or DOD could use to separate funding for OCO and base activities. GAO reviewed documentation of DOD internal controls for separating OCO and base amounts in the O and M account, interviewed financial management officials, and, among other things, conducted a literature review to identify alternatives that Congress or DOD could use to separate funding for OCO and base activities. Also, GAO administered a questionnaire to DOD and non-DOD officials to identify positive and negative aspects of these alternatives.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 28, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1169213
Entities
People
- Amie Lesser
- Arkelga Braxton
- Elizabeth Field
- Felicia Lopez
- James P. Klein
- Michael Silver
- Rebekah Boone
- Richard K. Geiger
- Richard Powelson
- Sheila Miller
- Shylene Mata
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office