Military Training Management and Oversight of Joint Combined Exchange Training.
Abstract
This report responds to your requests that we review the management and oversight of U.S. Special Operations Forces' overseas deployments to train with the armed forces and other security forces of friendly foreign countries. These deployments, called Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET), raised concerns that U.S. forces may be training with foreign militaries without adequate civilian oversight and engaging in activities that are inconsistent with U.S. policy goals. Specifically, we addressed (1) whether the Department of Defense (DOD) has implemented JCETs in accordance with legislation, (2) whether DOD and the Department of State are providing civilian oversight to ensure that JCET activities are consistent with U.S. foreign policy objectives in countries that we included in our review; and (3) how DOD is implementing recent legislation that restricts it from training with foreign forces involved in human rights abuses. GAO's review of available JCET files, attendance at command training conferences, observations of pre-event meetings, and discussions with DOD officials confirmed that DOD has complied with the statutory requirement that JCET's primary purpose be the training of U.S. special operations forces. GAO found a direct link between the training special operations forces indicated they needed and the training conducted. However; DOD has not accurately reported to the Congress the number of JCETs that were conducted, their costs, or their relationship to counter narcotics and counterterrorism, as also required by statute. Inaccuracies in reporting have arisen because of confusion in the field regarding how to define a JCET, how to pay for and report costs incurred by host countries, and how to interpret the legislative requirement to report JCET's relationship to counter narcotics and counterterrorism.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA366008
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office