Military Personnel: Progress Made in Implementing Recommendations to Reduce Domestic Violence, but Further Management Action Needed
Abstract
Due to concerns about domestic violence in the military and its adverse effect on mission readiness, Congress required the Department of Defense (DoD) to establish a task force to assess the services' response to domestic violence and recommend improvements. The task force issued three reports containing 194 recommendations. The Fiscal Year 2004 National Defense Authorization Act required GAO to review DoD's progress in implementing the recommendations. This report discusses the following: (1) DoD's ability to report on domestic violence incidents and disciplinary actions; (2) the resources DoD has provided to implement the recommendations; and (3) DoD's specific actions to ensure victim confidentiality and the education of commanding officers, senior enlisted personnel, and chaplains. GAO also examined whether DoD has established an oversight framework to monitor implementation. GAO recommends that DoD take actions to address domestic violence data deficiencies, provide adequate personnel and a strategy for communicating its policy changes, maintain chaplain training data, and establish an oversight framework. DoD agreed with the thrust of GAO's recommendations, with the exception of one that dealt with policy that DoD stated involved privacy concerns.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA448208
Entities
People
- Amanda Miller
- Carissa D. Bryant
- J. P. Newton
- James R. Bancroft
- Laura L. Durland
- Marion A. Gatling
- Nicole Harms
- Renee S. Brown
- Robert B. Brown
- Valerie C. Melvin
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office