WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has agreed with three Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendations to help a civilian-led shop better oversee the acquisition of weapons for special operators, according to a new report.
In a GAO report released today, the office looked at collaboration between the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict (ASD(SO/LIC)) shop and the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) — the command for which the civilian shop oversees budgeting for acquisition programs.
“ASD(SO/LIC) cannot effectively conduct program oversight, in part, because DOD policy has not fully enabled it to perform its acquisition-related responsibilities,” GAO wrote.
For example, the government watchdog found “disagreement” between ASD(SO/LIC) and SOCOM officials on the level of access the civilian shop should have on some programs and meetings. As a result, sometimes ASD(SO/LIC) would not have the data necessary to carry out its responsibilities.
“We found that these [civilian] officials can’t effectively carry out the office’s oversight responsibilities as they can’t always get access to relevant program information or meetings,” GAO wrote. “This makes it harder for them to ensure that acquisition programs are aligned with DOD priorities on budget and capabilities.”
In total, GAO looked at nine “major capability” acquisition programs to see which ones achieved cost and schedule goals:
The verdict: While only the MH-47G Block II reported cost growth, it, along with four other programs, reported delays, which can in turn lead to a cost hike over time. The other programs on the delayed list include the Dry Combat Submersible, Mk 18 Mod 1 UUV, Skyraider II and SEAL Delivery Vehicle Mk 11.
“SOCOM’s acquisition policy requires programs to report, in an online portal, current information — including cost estimates — relative to program goals,” the government watchdog office wrote. Officials for eight of the selected programs did not maintain that information because SOCOM’s acquisition policy did not specify how frequently they needed to.
“Having ready access to current cost estimates in the portal could help support officials’ efforts to identify potential cost growth risks or opportunities to reallocate resources,” GAO added.
To help fix some of those problems, the government watchdog made three recommendations to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, all of which the department agreed with.
- Fully institutionalizes the ASD(SO/LIC) in policy and guidance to ensure that the shop and SOCOM commander better collaborate on documenting clear protocols when it comes to acquisition-related responsibilities.
- Ensuring that the SOCOM commander updates the command’s acquisition policy documents to specify the frequency and circumstances under which program officials should update program cost estimates.
- Making sure that the SOCOM commander updates the acquisition policy documents to reflect leading practices for iterative product development to help with speed and innovation.
The GAO report and recommendations come as the command could see an influx of dollars as the Pentagon eyes a plan to spend $55 billion on its replacement for the Replicator initiative, dubbed the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG). While the department is still shaping DAWG plans, SOCOM is leading the charge.
“I think of the DAWG as a pathfinder, they’re out there finding the best technology for us and working on integration,” Jules “Jay” Hurst, now nominated to take the reins full time as the Pentagon’s comptroller, told reporters in April. “They’re with these companies, live right now, testing different systems and orchestration tools for autonomy, and they’re giving them live feedback.”
