Internal Controls over Army Selective Reenlistment Bonuses
Abstract
The Reenlistment, Extension, Reclassification, and Reserve Component Transition System (RETAIN) is the Army's computerized retention system for enlisted personnel. It contains all the reenlistment data required to document the retention of Army Service members, including tracking selective reenlistment bonuses (SRBs) paid and data required to transition active Army Service members to the Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserves. DFAS and the Army activated an adjustment to the SRB portion of the interface between RETAIN and the Defense Joint Military Pay System (DJMS) in April 2007. This interface reduced the requirement for reenlistment data to be manually fed from RETAIN into the DJMS. RETAIN provides the Army Human Resources Command (HRC) Enlisted Personnel Management Directorate with a list of both processed SRBs and those rejected for career counselors to review and correct. An SRB is paid to encourage Army Service members to reenlist in critical military occupational skills to ensure adequate retention levels. The purpose of the audit was to determine whether internal controls were in place and effective for payments to Army Service members for reenlistment bonuses. Funding was not made available to maintain the DJMS to allow the Army to pay the amount due to Service members for SRBs. As a result, 1,336 SRBs worth $15.6 million were not paid as of August 31, 2007. The authors recommend that DFAS improve the DJMS so that it will pay Army Service members the amount owed, and that the Army HRC develop internal controls to include posting the information concerning SRB payments to the bonus report in the RETAIN system for Army career counselor access. They identified DFAS management control weaknesses related to the processing of Army reenlistment bonuses. Although those weaknesses were not material in relation to the Army reenlistment bonus program taken as a whole, the weaknesses should be resolved because reenlistment bonuses affect Army Service members' pay.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 13, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA478376
Entities
People
- Brett Ward
- Donovan Quimby
- Douglas P. Neville
- Henry Matthews
- Jason James
- Joseph A. Powell
- Lisa Vega
- Lusk Penn
- Patricia Marsh
- Paul J. Granetto
Organizations
- Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense