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GAO-09-1022R 1 (2009-09-25)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaanpk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: AGA 0 Accountabiity Integrity * Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 September 25, 2009 Congressional Committees Subject: Overseas Contingency Operations: Reported Obligations for the Department of Defense Since 2001, Congress has provided the Department of Defense (DOD) with $893 billion in supplemental and annual appropriations, as of June 2009, primarily for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).' DOD's reported annual obligations for OCO have shown a steady increase from about $0.2 billion in fiscal year 2001 to about $162.4 billion in fiscal year 2008. For fiscal year 2009, Congress appropriated $151 billion in war-related requests. A total of $89.1 billion has been obligated through the third quarter of fiscal year 2009 through June 2009. The United States' commitments to OCO will likely involve the continued investment of significant resources, requiring decision makers to consider difficult trade-offs as the nation faces an increasing long-range fiscal challenge. The magnitude of future costs will depend on several direct and indirect cost variables and, in some cases, decisions that have not yet been made. DOD's future costs will likely be affected by the pace and duration of operations, the types of facilities needed to support troops overseas, redeployment plans, and the amount of equipment to be repaired or replaced . DOD compiles and reports monthly and cumulative incremental obligations incurred to support OCO in a monthly report commonly called the Contingency Operations Status of Funds Report.4 DOD leadership uses this report, along with other information, to advise Congress on the costs of the war and to formulate future OCO budget requests. DOD reports these obligations by appropriation, contingency operation,5 and military service or defense 'After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the President announced a Global War on Terrorism, requiring the collective instruments of the entire federal government to counter the threat of terrorism. Overseas contingency operations include operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. These operations involve a wide variety of activities, such as combating insurgents, training the military forces of other nations, and conducting small-scale reconstruction and humanitarian relief projects. Starting with the fiscal year 2009 supplemental request in April 2009, the Administration now refers to funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as Overseas Contingency Operations funds instead of Global War on Terrorism funds. 2According to Department of Defense, Financial Management Regulation, 7000.14-R, vol. 1, Definitions (Dec. 2001), xvii, obligations are incurred through actions such as orders placed, contracts awarded, services received, or similar transactions made by federal agencies during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period. 3For more information see GAO, Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight, GAO-07-308SP (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 9, 2007), and Global War on Terrorism: Observations on Funding, Costs, and Future Commitments, GAO-06-885T (Washington, D.C.: July 18, 2006). 4 This report replaces the Supplemental and Cost of War Execution Report. 'DOD defines contingency operations to include small, medium, and large-scale campaign-level military operations, including support for peacekeeping operations, major humanitarian assistance efforts, noncombatant evacuation operations, and international disaster relief efforts. GAO-09-1022R Overseas Contingency Operations

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