Military Operations: The Department of Defense's Use of Solatia
and Condolence Payments in Iraq and Afghanistan (23-MAY-07,
GAO-07-699).
There are a number of ways that the U.S. government provides
assistance to Iraqi or Afghan civilians who are killed, injured,
or suffer property damage as a result of U.S. and coalition
forces' actions. For instance, the U.S. Agency for International
Development funds projects to assist Iraqi and Afghan civilians
and communities directly impacted by actions of U.S. or coalition
forces. Also, the Department of State administers a program that
makes payments, in accordance with local custom, to Iraqi
civilians who are harmed in incidents involving U.S. protective
security details. In addition, the Department of Defense (DOD)
administers a program that provides compensation under the
Foreign Claims Act to inhabitants of foreign countries for death,
injury, or property damage caused by noncombat activities of U.S.
military personnel overseas. Further, DOD provides monetary
assistance in the form of solatia and condolence payments to
Iraqi and Afghan nationals who are killed, injured, or incur
property damage as a result of U.S. or coalition forces' actions
during combat. From fiscal years 2003 to 2006, DOD has reported
about $1.9 million in solatia payments and more than $29 million
in condolence payments to Iraqi and Afghan civilians who are
killed, injured, or incur property damage as a result of U.S. or
coalition forces' actions during combat. These payments are
expressions of sympathy or remorse based on local culture and
customs, but not an admission of legal liability or fault.
Commanders make condolence payments using funds provided by
Congress for the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP),
whereas solatia payments are funded from unit operations and
maintenance accounts. Pub. L. No. 108-106 (2003) requires DOD to
provide quarterly reports on the source, allocation, and use of
CERP funds. To administer the CERP, DOD has established 19
project categories for the use of funds, including categories for
condolence payments and battle damage payments. At Congress's
request, we reviewed DOD's solatia and condolence payment
programs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Specifically, we examined the
following questions: (1) To what extent has DOD established
guidance for making and documenting solatia and condolence
payments in Iraq and Afghanistan? (2) How are commanders making
and documenting solatia and condolence payments in Iraq and
Afghanistan and what factors do commanders consider when
determining whether to make payments or payment amounts? (3) To
what extent does DOD collect and analyze solatia and condolence
payment data? We also are providing information on the other
aforementioned programs established by the U.S. government to
provide assistance to Iraqi and Afghan civilians who have been
affected by U.S. or coalition forces' actions. These programs
include (1) DOD's Foreign Claims Act, (2) the Department of
State's Claims and Condolence Payment Program, and (3) the U.S.
Agency for International Development's Marla Ruzicka Iraqi War
Victims Fund and the Afghan Civilian Assistance Program.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-07-699
ACCNO: A69850
TITLE: Military Operations: The Department of Defense's Use of
Solatia and Condolence Payments in Iraq and Afghanistan
DATE: 05/23/2007
SUBJECT: Budget obligations
Claims settlement
Data collection
Federal aid to foreign countries
Foreign governments
International relations
Military operations
Payments
Property damages
Afghanistan
Iraq
******************************************************************
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GAO-07-699
* [1]Summary
* [2]Recommendations for Executive Action
* [3]Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
* [4]Department of Defense
* [5]Department of the Army
* [6]Department of the Navy
* [7]Afghanistan
* [8]Iraq
* [9]Other government agencies
* [10]GAO Contact
* [11]Staff Acknowledgments
* [12]GAO's Mission
* [13]Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony
* [14]Order by Mail or Phone
* [15]To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs
* [16]Congressional Relations
* [17]Public Affairs
Report to Congressional Requesters
United States Government Accountability Office
GAO
May 2007
MILITARY OPERATIONS
The Department of Defense's Use of Solatia and Condolence Payments in Iraq
and Afghanistan
GAO-07-699
Contents
Letter 1
Summary 3
Recommendations for Executive Action 5
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 6
Enclosure I Scope and Methodology 7
Enclosure II Briefing to Congressional Requesters 10
Enclosure III Comments from the Department of Defense 54
Enclosure IV GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 56
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without further permission from GAO. However, because this
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separately.
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
May 23, 2007
The Honorable Edward Kennedy
Chairman
Subcommittee on Seapower
Committee on Armed Services
United States Senate
The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Chairman
Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
There are a number of ways that the U.S. government provides assistance to
Iraqi or Afghan civilians who are killed, injured, or suffer property
damage as a result of U.S. and coalition forces' actions. For instance,
the U.S. Agency for International Development funds projects to assist
Iraqi and Afghan civilians and communities directly impacted by actions of
U.S. or coalition forces. Also, the Department of State administers a
program that makes payments, in accordance with local custom, to Iraqi
civilians who are harmed in incidents involving U.S. protective security
details. In addition, the Department of Defense (DOD) administers a
program that provides compensation under the Foreign Claims Act to
inhabitants of foreign countries for death, injury, or property damage
caused by noncombat activities of U.S. military personnel overseas.^1
Further, DOD provides monetary assistance in the form of solatia and
condolence payments to Iraqi and Afghan nationals who are killed, injured,
or incur property damage as a result of U.S. or coalition forces' actions
during combat. From fiscal years 2003 to 2006, DOD has reported about $1.9
million in solatia payments and more than $29 million in condolence
payments^2 to Iraqi and Afghan civilians who are killed, injured, or incur
property damage as a result of U.S. or coalition forces' actions during
combat. ^3 These payments are expressions of sympathy or remorse based on
local culture and customs, but not an admission of legal liability or
fault. Commanders make condolence payments using funds provided by
Congress for the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP), whereas
solatia payments are funded from unit operations and maintenance accounts.
Pub. L. No. 108-106 (2003) requires DOD to provide quarterly reports on
the source, allocation, and use of CERP funds. To administer the CERP, DOD
has established 19 project categories for the use of funds, including
categories for condolence payments and battle damage payments.
^110 U.S.C. S 2734.
^2Guidance issued by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
establishes 19 uses for Commander's Emergency Response Program funds
including condolence payments and battle damage payments. For purposes of
this report, we use the term condolence payment to refer to condolence
payments and battle damage payments which we have combined when
calculating total condolence payments. We did this because DOD guidance
does not clearly define when payments for property damage should be
recorded as condolence payments or as battle damage payments.
At your request, we reviewed DOD's solatia and condolence payment programs
in Iraq and Afghanistan. Specifically, we examined the following
questions: (1) To what extent has DOD established guidance for making and
documenting solatia and condolence payments in Iraq and Afghanistan? (2)
How are commanders making and documenting solatia and condolence payments
in Iraq and Afghanistan and what factors do commanders consider when
determining whether to make payments or payment amounts? (3) To what
extent does DOD collect and analyze solatia and condolence payment data?
We also are providing information on the other aforementioned programs
established by the U.S. government to provide assistance to Iraqi and
Afghan civilians who have been affected by U.S. or coalition forces'
actions. These programs include (1) DOD's Foreign Claims Act, (2) the
Department of State's Claims and Condolence Payment Program, and (3) the
U.S. Agency for International Development's Marla Ruzicka Iraqi War
Victims Fund and the Afghan Civilian Assistance Program.
To address your questions, we identified and reviewed guidance for solatia
and condolence payment programs and interviewed knowledgeable officials at
commands in Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, we interviewed officials
from selected units that returned recently from Iraq and Afghanistan about
their experiences making and documenting solatia and condolence payments.
We obtained payment information for solatia payments in Iraq and
Afghanistan and found these data sufficiently reliable for purposes of
this report. Additionally, we obtained summary obligation and disbursement
data for condolence payments made in Iraq and Afghanistan. To gain an
understanding of the reliability of these data, we spoke with
knowledgeable officials about how these data were generated. Additionally,
we compared condolence payment documentation from one unit with data
contained in quarterly reports provided by the Office of the Assistant
Secretary of the Army (Financial Management & Comptroller) to Congress. Of
the files we compared, we found a minor discrepancy in one record of about
$30. However, we did not compare other records from other units because
information needed to do so is generally not available from a centralized
source. The recommendations we make in this report address this
limitation. Finally, we interviewed officials at the Department of State
and U.S. Agency for International Development about assistance these
agencies provide to Iraqi and Afghan civilians affected by U.S. and
coalition actions. A detailed scope and methodology is included in
enclosure I. We conducted our review from September 2006 through May 2007
in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
^3Condolence payments have been made in Iraq since March 2004 and in
Afghanistan since November 2005. Solatia payments were made in Iraq from
June 2003 to January 2005. Solatia payments have been made in Afghanistan
since October 2005.
On February 28, 2007, we briefed your offices on the results of this
review. This report summarizes the information discussed at that briefing,
transmits the briefing slides describing our work at that point (see
enclosure II), and provides updated information.
Summary
We found that DOD has established guidance for making and documenting
solatia and condolence payments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that guidance
has changed over time primarily in Iraq in terms of condolence payment
amounts, approval levels, and payment eligibility. Within parameters
established by guidance, commanders exercise broad discretion for
determining whether a payment should be made and the appropriate payment
amount. While guidance does not require commanders to make payments,
commanders may do so if they choose. When determining whether to make
payments and payment amounts, commanders told us they consider the
severity of injury, type of damage, and property values based on the local
economy as well as any other applicable cultural considerations. According
to unit officials with whom we spoke, units generally follow a similar
process for making solatia and condolence payments in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Officials told us that they generally make payments to
civilians at Civil Military Operations Centers--ad hoc organizations
established by military commanders to assist in the coordination of
civilian-related activities--or during personal visits.
DOD requires units to collect various types of detailed information
related to condolence payments and, based on this information, reports
certain summary level data to Congress. However, because its current
guidance does not clearly distinguish between the types of payments to be
reported under certain CERP categories, reporting entities are
interpreting the guidance differently, and therefore inconsistent
reporting has occurred. When a condolence payment is made, units record,
among other data, information on the
o unit that made the payment,
o number of civilians killed or injured or whose property was
damaged,^4
o location of the incident, and
o dollar value of the payment.
Each payment also is assigned a document reference number for tracking
purposes. In reporting to Congress on the use of CERP funds, DOD provides
summary data on obligations, commitments, and disbursements for each of
the 19 project categories, and by major subordinate command^5 in Iraq or
task force in Afghanistan. The project categories include (1) condolence
payments to individual civilians for death, injury, or property damage and
(2) repair of damage that results from U.S., coalition, or supporting
military operations that is not compensable under the Foreign Claims Act,
known as battle damage payments. Within the condolence payment category,
DOD reports total dollar amounts and does not distinguish between payments
made for death, injury, or personal property damage. Because DOD guidance
does not clearly define when payments for property damage should be
recorded as condolence payments or as payments for battle damage, some
units are recording property damage as condolence payments while others
record property damage as battle damage payments. Additionally, neither
DOD nor the Army--which is the executive agent for CERP^6--can easily
determine that property damage is categorized appropriately because
guidance does not require units to report certain detailed information,
such as document reference numbers, which would facilitate verification.
^4While data from condolence payment records include information on Iraqi
civilians, these data do not provide a complete picture of the number of
civilians affected by U.S. forces' actions for various reasons, such as
Iraqi civilians not reporting incidents or accepting payments.
^5Iraq is divided into major areas of responsibility referred to as major
subordinate commands. These include (1) Multinational Division--Baghdad,
(2) Multinational Division--North, (3) Multinational Force--West, (4)
Multinational Division--Central South, and (5) Multinational
Division--Southeast.
^6As the executive agent for CERP, the Secretary of the Army promulgates
detailed procedures to ensure that unit commanders carry out CERP in a
manner consistent with applicable laws, regulations, and DOD guidance,
including rules for expending CERP funds.
In addition to solatia and condolence payments, there are a number of
other ways the U.S. government provides assistance to Iraqi or Afghan
civilians or communities affected by U.S. and coalition forces or who are
harmed during incidents involving U.S. protective security details. The
maximum dollar amount of assistance and the process for providing
assistance differs among programs. For instance, foreign claims
commissions adjudicate foreign claims generally up to $100,000 for death,
personal injury, or property damage caused during noncombat activities by
U.S. military personnel overseas. In comparison, the Department of State's
Claims and Condolence Payment Program generally provides up to $2,500 for
each instance of death, injury, or property damage to Iraqi civilians
harmed in incidents involving protective security details. Department of
State officials told us that payment amounts are based on the totality of
facts surrounding the incident, such as degree of fault and the extent of
the damage. Under programs administered by the U.S. Agency for
International Development, projects do not have a monetary limit and no
money is provided directly to Iraqi or Afghan civilians. Instead, the
agency provides funds to its partner organizations that implement
projects, such as vocational training and infrastructure development.
Additional details on these programs are provided in enclosure II.
Recommendations for Executive Action
To provide greater transparency on the use of CERP funds for condolence
payments, we are recommending that the Secretary of Defense direct the
Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) to take the following two
actions:
o Revise CERP guidance to clarify the definitions as to what is
reported in the two CERP categories: (1) condolence payments and
(2) battle damage payments.
o Require that document reference numbers be provided for payments
to allow DOD to determine whether expenditures of CERP funds are
appropriately categorized and to permit DOD to obtain detailed
information for analysis and reporting, as appropriate.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
DOD provided written comments on a draft of this report (see enclosure
III) and concurred with both recommendations. In its comments, DOD noted
that it had issued revised guidance to reflect our recommendations. DOD
also provided technical comments, which we included in the report, as
appropriate. Additionally, officials from the U.S. Agency for
International Development and Department of State provided technical
comments on a draft of this report that we incorporated, where
appropriate.
As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the contents of
this report, we plan no further distribution of it until 30 days from the
date of this report. We will send copies to others who are interested and
make copies available to others who request them.
If you or your staff have any questions on the matters discussed in this
report, please contact me at (202) 512-9619. Contact points for our
Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the
last page of this report. Key contributors to this report may be found in
enclosure IV.
Sharon L. Pickup, Director
Defense Capabilities and Management
Enclosures
Enclosure I: Scope and Methodology
To assess the extent to which DOD has established guidance for making and
documenting solatia and condolence payments in Iraq and Afghanistan and to
determine factors commanders consider when deciding whether to make
payments and appropriate payment amounts, we obtained and reviewed
guidance for these payment programs in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2003 to
the present and assessed changes in guidance over time. We also
interviewed knowledgeable officials at commands in Afghanistan and
Iraq--including the former commander of Multinational Corps Iraq--as well
as at the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Office of the
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, among other organizations, regarding
changes in guidance over time, processes for making and documenting
payments, and the tracking and reporting of payment information.
Additionally, we interviewed commanders, judge advocates, comptrollers,
and civil affairs teams from selected units that were deployed to Iraq and
Afghanistan in 2005 and 2006 regarding changes in guidance over time,
processes for making and documenting payments, and the tracking and
reporting of payment information. We selected these units (1) based on
their dates and locations of deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan, (2) to
ensure that we obtained information from officials at the battalion,
brigade, and division levels that had direct experience approving,
documenting, and making payments, and (3) because unit officials had not
yet redeployed or been transferred to other locations within the United
States.
To determine the extent to which DOD collects and analyzes solatia and
condolence payment data, we interviewed officials at Multinational
Forces--Iraq, Multinational Corps--Iraq, and the Combined Joint Task
Force-76 in Afghanistan, as well as units that were deployed to Iraq and
Afghanistan from 2005 to 2006. Because solatia payments are made using
unit operation and maintenance funds, we obtained solatia payment data for
Iraq directly from the U.S. Marine Corps, Headquarters, and similar data
directly from the Combined Joint Task Force-76 in Afghanistan that
compiled data from task forces. To assess the reliability of solatia
payment data, we spoke with knowledgeable officials and found these data
sufficiently reliable for purposes of this report. In addition, we
obtained and reviewed summary obligation and disbursement data for
condolence payments from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army
(Financial Management & Comptroller). To gain an understanding of the
reliability of these data, we spoke with knowledgeable officials about how
these data were generated. Additionally, we compared condolence payment
documentation from one unit with data contained in quarterly reports
provided by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial
Management & Comptroller) to Congress. Of the files we compared, we found
a minor discrepancy in one record of about $30. However, we did not
compare other records from other units because information needed to do so
is generally not available from a centralized source. The recommendations
we make in this report address this limitation.
We also discussed the extent to which DOD conducted trend analysis of
condolence payment data and potential reasons for changes in payments over
time. We analyzed the aforementioned data to determine trends by fiscal
year and country. For payments within Iraq, we further analyzed data to
identify trends by location. For purposes of this report, we use the term
condolence payment to refer to condolence payments and battle damage
payments which we have combined when calculating total condolence
payments. We did this because DOD guidance does not clearly define when
payments for property damage should be recorded as condolence payments or
as battle damage payments. Some DOD officials indicated confusion
regarding when to use each category to record property damage. For
instance, an official in the comptroller's office at one major subordinate
command in Iraq told us that he categorized all property damage as battle
damage payments. Furthermore, major subordinate commands in Iraq and task
forces in Afghanistan reported property damage in both the condolence
payment and battle damage CERP categories. We also obtained some financial
documentation for condolence payments processed by units that recently
returned from Iraq, including payments made by coalition forces using
appropriated CERP funds. We reviewed these documents to determine the type
of information and level of detail documented by units that made payments.
We also reviewed Significant Activity Reports to gain an understanding of
other types of information that is available to commanders for use in
assessing trends and modifying operations.
To gain an understanding of other types of assistance the U.S. government
provides to Iraqi and Afghan nationals affected by U.S. and coalition
forces' actions, we interviewed officials at DOD, the Department of State,
and the U.S. Agency for International Development. We obtained information
from the U.S. Army Claims Service on claims paid under the Foreign Claims
Act. We also obtained and reviewed summary project information from the
U.S. Agency for International Development including the project types,
descriptions, costs, and locations. We also obtained and reviewed
documentation, including the rationale for making payments and the payment
amounts, for eight claims approved by the Department of State for payment
to Iraqi civilians.
We visited or contacted the following organizations during our review:
Department of Defense
o Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Strategic Plans and Policy
Directorate, and the Force Structure Resources and Assessment
Directorate, Pentagon, Virginia.
o Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Rome, New York.
o Department of Defense, Office of the General Counsel, Pentagon,
Virginia.
o Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), Pentagon, Virginia.
o United States Army Central Command, Fort McPherson, Georgia.
o United States Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
Department of the Army
o 1-25^th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fort Wainwright and Fort
Richardson, Alaska.
o 4^th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
o 10th Mountain Division, 1^st Brigade Combat Team, 1-87^th
Infantry Battalion, Fort Drum, New York.
o 10^th Mountain Division, 4^th Brigade Combat Team, Fort Polk,
Louisiana.
o 25^th Infantry Division, 1^st Brigade, Stryker Brigade Combat
Team, Fort Lewis, Washington.
o 101^st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
o Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management &
Comptroller), Pentagon, Virginia.
o Center for Law and Military Operations, Charlottesville,
Virginia.
o Department of the Army, Office of the Judge Advocate General,
Rosslyn, Virginia.
o United States Army Claims Service, Fort Meade, Maryland.
Department of the Navy
o 1^st Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California.
o United States Marine Corps, Headquarters, Programs and Resource
Department, Arlington, Virginia.
Afghanistan
o Combined Joint Task Force-76.
Iraq
o Multinational Force--Iraq.
o Multinational Corps--Iraq.
o Multinational Division--Baghdad.
o Multinational Division--North.
o Multinational Forces--West.
Other government agencies
o United States Agency for International Development, Washington,
D.C., and Kabul, Afghanistan.
o United States Department of State, Washington, D.C. and Iraq.
We conducted this review from September 2006 through May 2007 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Enclosure II: Briefing to Congressional Requesters
Enclosure III: Comments from the Department of Defense
Enclosure IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
GAO Contact
Sharon L. Pickup, (202) 512-9619 or [email protected]
Staff Acknowledgments
In addition to the person named above, Carole F. Coffey, Assistant
Director; Kelly Baumgartner; Krislin Bolling; Alissa Czyz; K. Nicole
Harms; Ronald La Due Lake; Marcus L. Oliver; and Jason Pogacnik also made
major contributions to this report.
(350895)
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