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GAO-21-522PR 1 (2021-08-02)

handle is hein.gao/gaolzf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE G A O A Century of Non-Partisan Fact-Based Work 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 August 2, 2021 The Honorable Lloyd Austin Secretary of Defense U.S. Department of Defense 1000 Defense Pentagon Washington, D.C. 20301-1000 The Honorable Kathleen Hicks Deputy Secretary of Defense U.S. Department of Defense 1010 Defense Pentagon Washington, D.C. 20301-1010 Priority Open Recommendations: Department of Defense I appreciated my recent meeting with Secretary Austin and look forward to a constructive working relationship between our two institutions. As we discussed, the purpose of this letter is to provide an update on the overall status of the Department of Defense's (DOD) implementation of GAO's recommendations and to call your personal attention to areas where open recommendations should be given high priority.1 Many of the recommendations in this letter directly address key challenges that significantly affect DOD's ability to accomplish the department's mission, such as rebuilding readiness, mitigating cyber threats, and controlling costs. In November 2020, we reported that federal agencies government-wide had implemented 77 percent of our recommendations made in fiscal year 2016.2 As of July 29, 2021, DOD had implemented 65 percent of our recommendations from fiscal year 2016; 66 recommendations from that fiscal year remain open.3 Additionally, as of July 29, 2021, DOD had 1,001 recommendations that remained open from other fiscal years, bringing the total number of open recommendations to 1,067. Of these recommendations, 83 were made prior to fiscal year 2016-the year used to calculate DOD's implementation rate. We examined the recommendations in this category carefully to ensure that they remain relevant. We closed those recommendations that were obsolete or would no longer substantially improve DOD's 1Priority recommendations are those that GAO believes warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies. They are highlighted because, upon implementation, they may significantly improve government operation-for example, by realizing large dollar savings; eliminating mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or making progress toward addressing a high-risk or duplication issue. 2GAO, Performance and Accountability Report: Fiscal Year 2020 GAO-21-4SP (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 16, 2020). 3DOD's implementation rate represents the percentage of recommendations from fiscal year 2016 GAO unclassified and sensitive (e.g., For Official Use Only) products that DOD had implemented as of June 30, 2021. The rate does not include classified recommendations. GAO-21-522PR DOD Priority Recommendations Letter Page 1

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