Coast Guard: New Communication System to Support Search and	 
Rescue Faces Challenges (30-SEP-03, GAO-03-1111).		 
                                                                 
Search and rescue--one of the Coast Guard's oldest		 
missions--involves minimizing the loss of life, injury, and	 
property damage by aiding people and boats in distress. The Coast
Guard has previously reported that its 30-year-old search and	 
rescue communication system, called the National Distress and	 
Response System, has several deficiencies and is difficult to	 
maintain. Thus, the Coast Guard contracted to replace and	 
modernize it with a new system, called Rescue 21. GAO was asked  
to identify the status and plans of the Coast Guard's acquisition
of Rescue 21 and the technical and program risks associated with 
Rescue 21.							 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-03-1111					        
    ACCNO:   A08618						        
  TITLE:     Coast Guard: New Communication System to Support Search  
and Rescue Faces Challenges					 
     DATE:   09/30/2003 
  SUBJECT:   Agency missions					 
	     Command control communications computer		 
	     systems						 
                                                                 
	     Operational testing				 
	     Schedule slippages 				 
	     Systems evaluation 				 
	     Systems management 				 
	     Coast Guard National Distress and			 
	     Response System					 
                                                                 
	     Coast Guard Rescue 21 System			 

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GAO-03-1111

United States General Accounting Office

GAO	Report to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation,
    Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives

September 2003

COAST GUARD

     New Communication System to Support Search and Rescue Faces Challenges

                                       a

GAO-03-1111

Highlights of GAO-03-1111, a report to the
Subcommittee on Coast Guard and
Maritime Transportation, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure,
House of Representatives

Search and rescue-one of the Coast Guard's oldest missions- involves
minimizing the loss of life, injury, and property damage by aiding people
and boats in distress. The Coast Guard has previously reported that its
30-year-old search and rescue communication system, called the National
Distress and Response System, has several deficiencies and is difficult to
maintain. Thus, the Coast Guard contracted to replace and modernize it
with a new system, called Rescue 21.

GAO was asked to identify the status and plans of the Coast Guard's
acquisition of Rescue 21 and the technical and program risks associated
with Rescue 21.

GAO recommends, in part, that the Secretary of Homeland Security direct
the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard to establish a new schedule for
critical testing phases and initial operating capability and ensure that
milestones are established for completing test plans for formal
qualification testing, system integration testing, and operational testing
and evaluation.

In commenting on a draft of our report, Coast Guard officials generally
agreed with GAO's findings and recommendations and provided technical
corrections, which were incorporated as appropriate.

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-1111.

To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on
the link above. For more information, contact David A. Powner at (202)
512-9286 or [email protected].

September 2003

COAST GUARD

New Communication System to Support Search and Rescue Faces Challenges

Rescue 21's original schedule, which called for it to achieve initial
operating capability by September 2003, has been postponed, and the Coast
Guard has not yet finalized a new schedule. This postponement was due in
part to the development of the system taking longer than planned.

GAO reviewed the Coast Guard's management of three risk areas associated
with Rescue 21:

o  	Test management. Scheduled completion dates for key tests are still
being determined. These key tests (formal qualification testing, system
integration testing, and operational testing and evaluation) are
incremental tests that the Coast Guard is planning to perform before
reaching initial operating capability. Completion dates are not yet set
because the Coast Guard decided to postpone initial operating capability
due to delays in the original test schedule, which resulted in increased
risks associated with compressing and overlapping key tests (see figure).
In addition, key deliverables, including test plans, are still
outstanding, and no scheduled completion dates exist.

o  	Requirements management. The Coast Guard has a process in place for
managing system requirements.

o  	Risk management. The Coast Guard has a program in place for
identifying, prioritizing, and minimizing risks. Two high risks identified
by the Coast Guard are software development and environmental concerns
related to the construction of new antenna sites, which may delay the
implementation of Rescue 21.

Key Testing Dates through June 2003

Contents

    Letter                                                                  1 
                                          Recommendations                   2 
                                          Agency Comments                   2 
Appendix                                                                 
             Appendix I: The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An Update 

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
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A

United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548

September 30, 2003

The Honorable Frank A. LoBiondo
Chairman
The Honorable Bob Filner
Ranking Minority Member
Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
House of Representatives

The National Distress and Response System is a significant component of
the United States Coast Guard's search and rescue program. However,
Coast Guard officials have reported that the 30-year-old system has
several
deficiencies and is difficult to maintain. In September 2002, the Coast
Guard contracted with General Dynamics Decision Systems (General
Dynamics) to modernize and replace the National Distress and Response
System with a system called Rescue 21. As you requested, our objectives
were to identify the (1) status and plans of the Coast Guard's acquisition
of
Rescue 21 and (2) technical and programmatic risks associated with
Rescue 21.

To identify the status and plans for acquiring Rescue 21, we analyzed
Rescue 21's acquisition strategy and cost and schedule estimates. We also
compared original Rescue 21 plans with current strategies. To identify the
technical and programmatic risks associated with Rescue 21, we reviewed
key Coast Guard acquisition documents, including test plans, requirements
documents, the risk watch list, and risk mitigation plans. We performed
our
work at the Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C.; the Coast
Guard group site in Chincoteague, Va.; and General Dynamics in Scottsdale,
Ariz. We conducted our work from November 2002 through June 2003 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

On August 13, 2003, we provided your offices with a status briefing on the
results of this review, which is included as appendix I. The purpose of
this
letter is to provide the published briefing slides to you and to
officially
transmit our recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

In brief, we reported that the Coast Guard's original schedule for
reaching
initial operating capability by September 2003 had been postponed and that
the Coast Guard had not yet finalized a new schedule. The postponement of
the schedule for reaching initial operating capability was due in part to
the
system's development taking longer than planned. In reviewing the Coast

Guard's test management practices, we found that the Coast Guard postponed
key tests in part because prior schedules showed delay, overlap, and
compression of tests, which increased the risk that all requirements would
not be tested. In addition, schedules for key tests and deliverables,
including test plans, were still outstanding. These key tests (formal
qualification testing, system integration testing, and operational testing
and evaluation) are incremental tests that the Coast Guard is planning to
perform before reaching initial operating capability. We also determined
that the Coast Guard has developed key documentation used for managing
system requirements and that the Coast Guard has a program in place for
identifying, prioritizing, and minimizing risks.

Recommendations	To mitigate Rescue 21 risks and ensure that adequate
testing occurs and all requirements are fulfilled so that the deployed
system will work as specified, we are recommending that the Secretary of
Homeland Security direct the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard
to

o 	establish a new schedule for critical testing phases and initial
operating capability and

o 	ensure that milestones are established for completing test plans for
formal qualification testing, system integration testing, and operational
testing and evaluation and that test plans address all requirements of the
system.

Agency Comments	In providing oral comments on a draft of this report,
Coast Guard officials, including the Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Project
Manager, stated that they generally agreed with our findings and
recommendations. Coast Guard officials also stated that the Coast Guard is
actively working with General Dynamics to jointly develop a new schedule
that considers all the risk factors identified in this report. In
addition, Coast Guard officials provided technical corrections that we
incorporated in this report, where appropriate.

As we agreed with your staff, unless you publicly announce the contents of
this report earlier, we plan no further distribution of it until 30 days
from the date of this letter. At that time, we will send copies to the
Secretary of Homeland Security, the Commandant of the United States Coast
Guard,

and other interested parties. Copies will be made available to others upon
request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on the GAO
Web site at http://www.gao.gov.

If you have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202)
512-9286 or by e-mail at [email protected]. Sophia Harrison, Richard Hung,
David Noone, Colleen Phillips, Karl Seifert, and Eric Winter were major
contributors to this report.

David A. Powner Director (Acting), Information Technology Management
Issues

Appendix I

The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

Appendix I
The Coast Guard's Rescue 21 Acquisition: An
Update

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