Arlington National Cemetery: Actions Needed to Ensure Lasting, Positive Changes in Contracting and Management
Abstract
Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington) is the final resting place for many of our nations military servicemembers, their family members, and others. In June 2010, the Army Inspector General identified problems at the cemetery, including deficiencies in contracting and management, burial errors, and a failure to notify next of kin of errors. In response, the Secretary of the Army issued guidance creating the position of the Executive Director of the Army National Cemeteries Program (ANCP) to manage Arlington and requiring changes to address the deficiencies and improve cemetery operations. In response to Public Law 111-339, GAO assessed several areas, including (1) actions taken to improve contract management and oversight, (2) the Armys efforts to address identified management deficiencies and provide information and assistance to families regarding efforts to detect and correct burial errors, and (3) factors affecting the feasibility and advisability of transferring jurisdiction for the Armys national cemeteries to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The information in this testimony summarizes GAOs recent reports on Arlington contracting (GAO-12-99) and management (GAO-12-105). These reports are based on, among other things, analyzing guidance, policies, plans, contract files, and other documentation from the Army, Arlington, and other organizations and interviews with Army and VA officials. n the reports, GAO made several recommendations to help Arlington sustain progress made to date.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 03, 2012
- Accession Number
- AD1169797
Entities
People
- Alex Winograd
- Belva M. Martin
- Brian J. Lepore
- Brian Mullins
- George M. Duncan
- Julie Hadley
- Kathryn Edelman
- Kristine Hassinger
- Kyler Arnold
- Lina Khan
- Russell Bryan
- Tom Gosling
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office