Defense Transportation: 89th Airlift Wing Executive Branch Policies
Improved but Reimbursement Issues Remain (Letter Report, 08/16/1999,
GAO/NSIAD-99-170).

GAO reported in 1992 that the policies governing the use of military
aircraft were too broad and vague to have much impact on the use of the
89th Airlift Wing by government officials. (See GAO/NSIAD-92-133.)
Moreover, at that time, the use of aircraft was free of charge to all
but a few users, and no one independently verified compliance with
policies. This follow-up report finds that the Office of Management and
Budget, the Defense Department (DOD), and the White House have addressed
GAO's earlier recommendations for strengthening the management and use
of the 89th Airlift Wing. Specifically, they have defined key terms,
spelled out circumstances under which reimbursements are due, and
required record-keeping. Requests to DOD for use of the wing generally
complied with application policies on justification for using the 89th
Airlift Wing. However, DOD acknowledged that agency reimbursements for
wing missions have generally not been collected for two years and, in
some cases, for as long as six years. Also, reimbursements for
nonofficial travel sometimes were credited to the wrong accounts or the
collection of reimbursements could not be verified.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  NSIAD-99-170
     TITLE:  Defense Transportation: 89th Airlift Wing Executive Branch
	     Policies Improved but Reimbursement Issues Remain
      DATE:  08/16/1999
   SUBJECT:  Public officials
	     Policy evaluation
	     Internal controls
	     Reimbursements to government
	     Airlift services
	     Accounting procedures
	     Military aircraft
IDENTIFIER:  VC-25A Aircraft

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    United States General Accounting Office GAO                 Report
    to the Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate August
    1999         DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION 89th Airlift Wing Executive
    Branch Policies Improved but Reimbursement Issues Remain
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 United States General Accounting Office
    National Security and Washington, D.C. 20548
    International Affairs Division B-282994
    Letter August 16, 1999 The Honorable Ted Stevens Chairman,
    Committee on Appropriations United States Senate Dear Mr.
    Chairman: In 1992, we issued a report on policies and procedures
    governing access to and use of the 89th Airlift Wing entitled
    Military Aircraft: Policies on Government Officials' Use of 89th
    Military Airlift Wing Aircraft (GAO/NSIAD-92-133). We reported
    that the policies governing the use of military aircraft were too
    broad and vague to have much impact on the use of the 89th Airlift
    Wing by executive and legislative branch officials. Moreover, at
    that time, the use of aircraft was free of charge to all but a few
    users, and no one independently verified compliance with policies.
    We concluded that the policies and their implementation were
    inadequate and did not ensure that the wing's airlift resources
    were being used appropriately and consistently. We made several
    recommendations designed to strengthen controls over uses of the
    89th Airlift Wing and reimbursements for such uses. At your
    request, we determined whether (1) changes to executive branch
    policies since 1992 addressed the intent of our recommendations
    and (2) reimbursements have been made for use of 89th Airlift Wing
    aircraft. Because most of the missions flown by the 89th Airlift
    Wing are in support of the executive branch, we focused our
    analysis on the changes made to executive branch guidance
    concerning the use of government-owned aircraft, such as the
    Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-126 and other
    relevant Department of Defense (DOD) and White House implementing
    guidance. We are also providing you with information on which
    agencies of the government were the most frequent wing users
    during 1993-99 and how DOD resolves scheduling conflicts. Results
    in Brief                    OMB, DOD, and the White House
    addressed our recommendations in policy revisions made since 1992,
    thus strengthening the management and use of the 89th Airlift Wing
    by defining key terms, specifying circumstances under which
    reimbursements are due, and requiring certain record-keeping
    measures. Requests to DOD for use of the wing generally complied
    with Page 1                                          GAO/NSIAD-99-
    170 Military Aircraft B-282994 applicable policies on
    justifications for using the 89th Airlift Wing. However, DOD
    acknowledged that agency reimbursements for wing missions have
    generally not been collected for 2 years and in some cases for as
    long as 6 years. Also, reimbursements for nonofficial travel in
    some cases were credited to the wrong accounts or the collection
    of the reimbursements could not be verified. Although in our 1992
    report we noted problems with reimbursement processes,
    instructions to collect and account for them are still lacking. We
    are making a recommendation in this report to the Secretary of
    Defense to improve the billing and reimbursement process.
    Background    The 89th Airlift Wing, located at Andrews Air Force
    Base, Maryland, is a component of the Air Force's Air Mobility
    Command. The wing provides worldwide airlift for the President,
    Vice President, cabinet members, and other high-ranking
    dignitaries of the U.S. and foreign governments. As of June 1999,
    the wing had 20 fixed-wing aircraft and 19 helicopters. (The
    helicopters are used to meet transportation needs in the
    Washington, D.C., area, and are not discussed in this report.)
    Table 1 displays the wing's fixed-wing aircraft inventory. Table
    1:  The 89th Airlift Wing's Inventory of Fixed-Wing Aircraft
    Number of Type                          Quantity
    passengers     Civilian aircraft variant VC-25A
    2                        76     Boeing 747 C-32
    4                        45     Boeing 757 C-20B
    5                        12     Gulfstream III C-20H
    2                        12     Gulfstream IV C-9C
    3                        42     Douglas DC-9 C-137
    2a                  52 or 61b    Boeing 707 C-37
    2                        12     Gulfstream V aOne C-137 is
    scheduled to be retired from the inventory in August 1999.
    bPassenger loads vary due to aircraft configuration. Source: 89th
    Airlift Wing. The two VC-25As are for the President's exclusive
    use. However, the President also uses other aircraft as his
    transportation needs dictate. When the President is on board any
    of these aircraft, it is referred to as Air Force One. Other than
    the VC-25As, 89th Airlift Wing aircraft are available for Page 2
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft B-282994 executive,
    legislative, and judicial branch travel. The Office of the
    Secretary of Defense (OSD) ranks missions in order of priority in
    the event of a scheduling conflict according to (1) the lead
    traveler's place on a DOD priority ranking list or (2) the
    Secretary of Defense's determination as to the national interest
    of the proposed mission. The 89th Airlift Wing's flight operations
    are funded from annual appropriations to the Air Force's
    Operations and Maintenance (O&M) account. The Air Mobility Command
    manages the portion of the O&M account that funds the wing and
    certain other operations. The wing reported that its overall
    budget for fiscal year 1999, including O&M and other funds, is
    about $356.9 million for flight operations, civilian and military
    payrolls, and the medical group.1 DOD Has Been the Most
    The 89th Airlift Wing completed 4,562 missions from January 1,
    1993, Frequent User of the Wing     through February 9, 1999.
    Table 2 shows which government agencies used Since 1993
    wing aircraft most frequently. Table 2:  Usage of the 89th Airlift
    Wing by Agency Percentage of total Agency
    Number of missionsa                              missions DOD
    1,979                               43.4 White House
    1,740                               38.1 Congress
    426                                 9.3 Department of State
    245                                5.4b Others
    172                                 3.8 Total
    4,562                                100 aMany missions involved
    numerous trip segments, but if the mission number did not change,
    we considered it to be one mission. bIncludes missions ordered by
    either the White House or the Department of State. Source: 89th
    Airlift Wing. 1This includes base functions supporting non-89th
    Airlift Wing tenant units at Andrews Air Force Base. Page 3
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft B-282994 Mission Request,
    Approval,  Request and approval procedures for missions vary
    depending on the Scheduling, and                  users. Normally,
    requests for trips directed by the President and approved
    Reimbursement Processes          by the White House are sent by
    the White House Military Office directly to for the 89th Airlift
    Wing        the Air Force's Office of the Vice Chief of Staff,
    Special Air Missions (hereafter referred to as the Office of
    Special Air Missions) for scheduling. Members of Congress send
    requests to OSD (Legislative Affairs) for approval. Executive
    branch cabinet department and agency requests that are not
    sponsored by the White House, as well as OSD agency requests, are
    sent to OSD (Executive Secretary) for approval. OSD (Legislative
    Affairs) and OSD (Executive Secretary) send approved requests to
    the Office of Special Air Missions for scheduling. The military
    services send approved requests directly to the Office of Special
    Air Missions. After receiving approval notification, the Office of
    Special Air Missions reviews the proposed mission data and
    aircraft availability and then schedules the 89th Airlift Wing to
    fly the mission. DOD officials explained that sometimes they
    receive more approved requests for transportation than they have
    aircraft available, which we called "scheduling conflicts." These
    officials said the Office of Special Air Missions tries to resolve
    scheduling conflicts in consultation with the affected customer by
    (1) changing the departure date or time; (2) changing from the
    requested aircraft to another aircraft; (3) changing passenger
    requirements (for example, requesting that the passenger group be
    reduced so that it can be accommodated by a smaller, available
    aircraft); or (4) placing the customer on a non-89th Airlift Wing
    aircraft. Air Force officials explained that if the Office of
    Special Air Missions still cannot resolve the conflict, it refers
    the matter to OSD (Executive Secretary) for resolution. OSD
    (Executive Secretary) officials will then make a decision by
    ranking the priority of travelers and usually scheduling the
    mission of the lead traveler with the higher priority ranking.
    However, at times, these officials stressed, the Secretary of
    Defense may determine that a particular mission has a higher
    national interest and may schedule that mission regardless of the
    priority ranking of the lead traveler. DOD does not require that
    records be kept showing when a conflict has occurred and how it
    was resolved, and such records were not kept. Page 4
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft B-282994 Under the Economy Act
    of 1932,2 DOD is required to collect reimbursements for the cost
    of aircraft operations when it provides 89th Airlift Wing airlift
    support to non-DOD agencies except when the support is at the
    direction of the White House. Reimbursements fall into two
    categories: agency reimbursements and nonofficial traveler
    reimbursements. Agencies make reimbursements for wing support
    through transfers of appropriated funds to DOD. White House and
    White House-directed missions are nonreimbursable, and DOD funds
    them. Other non-DOD executive branch missions are reimbursable,
    and the agency is to pay the full cost of operating the aircraft.3
    Prior to 1996, the Air Force's Air Mobility Command billed
    agencies for reimbursements, collected them, and credited the
    receipts to the Command's O&M account. In 1996, the Air Mobility
    Command transferred the agency billing and reimbursement
    responsibility to DOD's Defense Finance and Accounting Service
    (DFAS). Thus, at the time of our review, DFAS did the billing and
    collections and credited the receipts to the Air Mobility
    Command's O&M account. On the other hand, 89th Airlift Wing users
    may permit nonofficial travelers on their missions as provided by
    OMB Circular A-126 and DOD Directive 4500.56. Nonofficial
    passengers may join in the mission if (1) the aircraft was already
    scheduled for an official purpose, (2) the addition of such
    passengers does not require a larger aircraft, and (3) results in
    a negligible increase in aircraft operating costs. The agencies
    using the wing are also to collect travel costs from nonofficial
    travelers at the rate of a commercial coach class ticket to the
    destination traveled. For example, when the Secretary of Defense
    permits nonofficial travelers to accompany him on DOD aircraft,
    OSD (Personal Security) bills such travelers, except members of
    the news media. OSD (Public Affairs) bills news media
    representatives that accompany the Secretary of Defense on DOD
    aircraft. These reimbursements are sent to DFAS to be credited to
    the Air Mobility Command's O&M account. 231 U.S.C.  1535, 1536.
    3We did not evaluate the data used to set reimbursement rates that
    DOD charged non-DOD agencies for reimbursable 89th Airlift Wing
    missions. However, in other unrelated work, DOD has acknowledged
    fundamental problems in accumulating reliable cost information.
    Page 5
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft B-282994 Policies Regarding Use
    After our 1992 report, OMB, DOD, and the White House revised
    policies and Management of the  related to the 89th Airlift Wing,
    strengthening the management and use of the wing. Among these
    policies is OMB Circular A-126 (Improving the 89th Airlift Wing
    Have           Management and Use of Government Aircraft), a
    primary governing Been Strengthened                directive on
    the use of military or other government aircraft by executive
    branch officials. The 1989 version of the circular was in effect
    at the time of our 1992 report, and we concluded that the circular
    (1) inadequately defined key terms, (2) readily permitted
    travelers to assert that commercial transportation was not
    available, (3) did not require comparison of the cost of military
    versus commercial transportation, (4) did not clearly specify when
    nonofficial travelers should pay for their trips, and (5) did not
    specify the extent to which compliance with these policies should
    be documented and controlled. Table 3 displays the changes that we
    recommended to the circular and the changes OMB made. Table 3:
    Actions Responding to Our 1992 Recommendations AA 1992 GAO
    recommendation                        OMB action Clearly define
    key terms such as "official     Defined "mission requirements" and
    the business" and describe how, when, by           purposes for
    which the wing can be used. whom, and for what purposes the 89th
    Airlift  Defined "official travel." Wing should be used (or
    alternatively, the     Established criteria for designating a
    purposes for which the 89th Airlift Wing       government official
    as a required user of should not be used).
    government aircraft. Required users are officials who have a need
    for 24-hour-a-day secure communications or unusual security
    concerns and are thus allowed to use the 89th  Airlift Wing for
    all travel, including personal travel. Established the policy on
    when nonofficial travelers may travel on wing aircraft. Provide
    specific guidance on how travelers  Established that commercial
    service is should determine whether commercial
    reasonably available if it can meet the aircraft services are
    available.               traveler's arrival or departure
    requirements within a 24-hour period. Provide explicit guidance as
    to when and       Required a cost comparison unless the how
    travelers are to make cost comparisons  travel is by a required
    user or to meet and when it may be permissible not to use  mission
    requirements, two reasons for the most cost-effective
    transportation         which the usually more expensive mode of
    alternative.                                   government air
    transportation is permitted. Page 6
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft B-282994 1992 GAO
    recommendation                         OMB action Clearly identify
    the circumstances under        Specified that nonofficial
    travelers and which both official and nonofficial travelers
    official travelers on nonofficial business should reimburse the
    government for their  must reimburse the government at the rate
    travel and the appropriate amount to be         of a coach class
    air ticket to the destination reimbursed.
    traveled and identified the circumstances under which
    reimbursements are due. Clearly specify the extent to which
    For each use of government aircraft, compliance with each of these
    policies          required that data on the aircraft tail should
    be documented and controlled,            number, the date(s) used,
    the names of the where the documentation should be
    pilot and flight crew, the purpose of the retained, and that
    documentation should be  flight, and the names of all passengers
    be retained for at least 2 years after the date of  retained for
    at least 2 years. the trip. Source: GAO and OMB. Also, since
    February 1993, the White House has revised at least three
    memorandums that provide additional guidance on the use of DOD
    aircraft. The latest memorandum, dated November 16, 1998,
    specifies the terms under which non-DOD missions will be
    designated as either nonreimbursable or reimbursable to DOD and
    the criteria for making such decisions. White House support
    missions are provided on a nonreimbursable basis and directly
    support (1) the President, Vice President, and first family; (2)
    immediate White House activities; and (3) missions directed by the
    President. For travel done by cabinet and government officials not
    on White House missions, use of DOD aircraft can be provided on a
    reimbursable basis if all of the following four conditions are
    met: (1) the travel is in the national interest, (2) DOD is fully
    reimbursed by the using agency at the appropriate flying hour
    rate, (3) the use of resources does not detract from the national
    defense, and (4) a commercial enterprise cannot provide the
    transportation as conveniently or cost-effectively. Finally, since
    1992 DOD has issued at least four directives, memorandums, or
    other guidance that affect the use of the wing. These documents,
    among other things, implement the revised OMB circular, designate
    certain DOD officials as required users, and emphasize that
    military air travel is a premium mode of transportation involving
    high costs and limited resources. For example, DOD Regulation
    4515.13-R, Air Transportation Eligibility, issued in November
    1994, specifies procedures and criteria for approving non-DOD
    airlift missions. For DOD to approve these missions, the
    regulation requires the requester to justify the purpose of the
    travel, state why commercial service is not being used, and
    indicate whether the proposed mission will be reimbursable or
    nonreimbursable. Page 7
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft B-282994 We reviewed a sample
    of mission requests that were reviewed by OSD (Executive
    Secretary) and found that the justifications generally complied
    with requirements outlined in OMB Circular A-126, the White House
    memorandums, and DOD Regulation 4515.13-R regarding the use of
    government aircraft. DOD Has Not
    Implementation of policies over the billing and reimbursement
    process for Collected                         89th Airlift Wing
    usage is inadequate. Problems included (1) a lack of agency
    reimbursements to DOD for 89th Airlift Wing flights, (2) improper
    crediting Reimbursements or                 of funds that were
    reimbursed, (3) record-keeping that generally prevented Properly
    Accounted for  verification of transactions, and (4) inadequate
    instructions on how staff Them                              are to
    meet billing and reimbursement responsibilities. We identified
    inadequate instructions as a problem in our 1992 report as well.
    Some Agency                       DOD acknowledged that it had not
    consistently collected agency Reimbursements Are
    reimbursements due for reimbursable missions. On the basis of our
    inquiry, 6 Years in Arrears                DOD discovered that
    reimbursements had not been collected for 63 missions flown by the
    89th Airlift Wing, some occurring as long ago as 1993.4 We
    estimated that DOD is owed about $1.9 million from non-DOD
    agencies for the 63 reimbursable missions. No one independently
    verified that all agency reimbursements due were actually
    collected. Moreover, the Air Mobility Command was not aware that
    any mission bills were in arrears, even though the funds are to be
    credited to the Command's O&M account. The Air Force inquired into
    the billing problem and by June 1999, DFAS had already sent bills
    for most of the outstanding reimbursements. As of July 1999, DFAS
    indicated that some reimbursements have been received. Also, at
    the time of our review, the Office of Special Air Missions had
    begun to develop a procedure to prevent a future recurrence of the
    problem. The plan was still being developed at the time of this
    report. 4Some agency reimbursements were collected between 1993
    and 1996. Page 8
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft B-282994 Some Nonofficial
    Traveler     Agencies that permit nonofficial travelers, such as
    news media Reimbursements Have Not       representatives, on their
    nonreimbursable 89th Airlift Wing missions are to Been Properly
    Accounted       bill such travelers and collect the
    reimbursements. The Air Mobility for
    Command reported that it had received about $7.9 million in both
    agency and nonofficial passenger reimbursements in fiscal years
    1993-98. While DOD has collected reimbursements for nonofficial
    travel, DFAS officials have sometimes credited the wrong fiscal
    year accounts. Agencies that have collected nonofficial traveler
    reimbursements sent the funds to DFAS' Omaha Operating Location
    for crediting to the proper Air Mobility Command fiscal year O&M
    account. However, because the agencies did not notify DFAS of the
    mission dates, DFAS had to rely on the agencies to specify the
    fiscal year account into which to credit the funds. For example,
    OSD (Public Affairs) collected and remitted reimbursements but was
    unaware that the accounting code the office must report to DFAS
    for proper funds handling also instructs DFAS which fiscal year
    account the funds should be credited to. OSD (Public Affairs)
    incorrectly instructed DFAS to credit the fiscal year 1997 account
    with reimbursements for fiscal years 1998 and 1999 nonofficial
    travel. As a result, DFAS credited at least $106,000 in
    reimbursements for fiscal years 1998 and 1999 nonofficial travel
    to the fiscal year 1997 account. The Economy Act requires
    reimbursements to be credited to the agency appropriation or fund
    used to provide service to another agency. Since the 89th Airlift
    Wing's flight operations are funded with an annual O&M
    appropriation, reimbursements must be credited to the appropriate
    Air Force O&M account for the fiscal year in which the travel took
    place. Thus, the fiscal year 1998 reimbursements should be
    credited to the fiscal year 1998 account; fiscal year 1999
    reimbursements should be credited to the fiscal year 1999 account.
    Properly crediting these reimbursements to the current fiscal year
    appropriation account allows the Air Mobility Command to use those
    funds for a variety of O&M-based spending needs in the current
    fiscal year. However, if DFAS inappropriately credits
    reimbursements to a prior year account, the use of the funds is
    unnecessarily restricted because they may then only be used toward
    obligations incurred in that prior year. We found other errors as
    well. For example, OSD (Public Affairs) instructed DFAS to credit
    about $57,000 to the Air Mobility Command's O&M account for
    nonofficial travelers that accompanied the Secretary of Defense on
    four trips in 1998. However, these trips were taken on aircraft
    operated by the Air Combat Command and assigned to the 55th Wing,
    Offutt Page 9                                         GAO/NSIAD-
    99-170 Military Aircraft B-282994 Air Force Base, Nebraska.
    Therefore, the funds should have been credited to an Air Combat
    Command account, not an Air Mobility Command account. No one
    independently verified that all reimbursements were made. For
    example, Air Mobility Command officials told us they have not
    monitored DFAS billing and reimbursement operations and were
    surprised when we brought to their attention the improper
    crediting of some reimbursements. Moreover, DFAS has not received
    passenger manifests from the 89th Airlift Wing, thus missing an
    opportunity for independent verification that all nonofficial
    traveler reimbursements due are actually collected. Transactions
    Are Not         We could not verify the receipt and crediting of
    some nonofficial traveler Readily Verifiable
    reimbursements because DFAS' record-keeping procedures do not
    permit full verification of all transactions. DOD Directive
    7000.14-R stipulates that accounting methods must permit
    transactions to be traced for verification. However, DFAS
    commingled numerous individual reimbursement checks on a single
    cash collection voucher. While convenient, the practice undermines
    effective management controls by preventing verification that all
    transactions were properly completed. Due to the commingling of
    individual reimbursement checks, we could not determine whether
    DFAS properly processed all 89th Airlift Wing reimbursements from
    nonofficial travelers. Billing Instructions Are     At the time of
    our review, the billing process through which DOD should
    Inadequate                   have collected reimbursements from
    non-DOD agencies for 89th Airlift Wing missions had stopped
    functioning. DOD had not issued adequate billing instructions, but
    the process worked to some extent prior to 1997 anyway, possibly
    because experienced officials were in place. By 1997, the agency
    billing process had come to a halt, possibly due to a lack of
    adequate documentation of the process and some significant, nearly
    simultaneous personnel changes. Moreover, OSD (Public Affairs)
    similarly lacked adequate instructions on how its staff was to
    handle the transactions and instruct DFAS where to credit the
    funds, with the result that some funds were incorrectly credited.
    We identified a similar lack of instructions in OSD (Public
    Affairs) in 1992. Page 10
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft B-282994 Recommendation
    We recommend that the Secretary of Defense document the
    Department's billing and reimbursement process with written
    instructions or other guidance and ensure that all DOD components
    involved in the process comply with DOD accounting and financial
    management requirements to record transactions in a manner that
    permits verification of the proper handling of the funds. Agency
    Comments and  DOD and OMB provided written comments on a draft of
    this report (see Our Evaluation                 apps. I and II).
    DOD concurred with our recommendation and stated that it is
    working to incorporate the reimbursement process into the proper
    guidance. DOD also stated that DFAS was collecting overdue
    reimbursements at the time of our report. OMB stated that the
    report identifies some important weaknesses in the accounting and
    collection of reimbursements for non-DOD use of 89th Airlift Wing
    aircraft.   In addition, DOD provided technical comments that we
    incorporated as appropriate. Scope and
    Because most of the missions flown by the 89th Airlift Wing are in
    support Methodology                    of the executive branch, we
    focused our analysis on the changes made to executive branch
    guidance concerning the use of government-owned aircraft, such as
    OMB Circular A-126 and other relevant DOD and White House
    implementing guidance. To determine whether changes to executive
    branch policies since 1992 addressed the intent of our
    recommendations, we met with OMB officials and obtained the 1989
    and 1992 versions of OMB Circular A-126, Improving the Management
    and Use of Government Aircraft. We also met with officials from
    OSD (Executive Secretary); OSD (Legislative Affairs); and the
    Office of Special Air Missions, Vice Chief of Staff of the Air
    Force, in Washington, D.C., and from the 89th Airlift Wing at
    Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. These officials also provided us
    with DOD or Air Force directives, guidance, policy statements,
    mission request records, mission approval memorandums,
    correspondence, and other documents. To determine how the policies
    have changed since our April 1992 report, we compared versions of
    the various guidance documents in force as of April 1992 with any
    amendments or other changes since that time and characterized the
    substance of the changes. To determine whether justifications for
    wing usage complied with applicable policies, we interviewed the
    same officials to determine the Page 11
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft B-282994 procedures they
    followed to review 89th Airlift Wing mission requests. We reviewed
    a sample of non-DOD reimbursable mission requests to determine
    whether guidance and directives were adhered to in the review and
    approval of these mission requests. We also met with officials
    from the Office of the Secretary of State to determine the basis
    on which that agency decided whether to use military or commercial
    aircraft and the process they used to approve a request to DOD for
    transportation support. To determine whether reimbursements for
    89th Airlift Wing flights have been made, we met with officials
    and obtained documents from organizations that are responsible for
    key steps in the billing and reimbursement process. First, we met
    with the Office of Special Air Missions and the 89th Airlift Wing
    Comptroller. To determine how billing and reimbursements were
    processed, we met with officials from DOD and Department of State
    offices responsible for billing nonofficial passengers, including
    OSD (Personal Security), OSD (Public Affairs), and the Office of
    the Secretary of State. We also obtained billing records,
    documents showing reimbursement checks received from parties
    billed, cash collection vouchers, transmittal documents showing
    fund transfers to DFAS, and other documents. We compared a sample
    of passenger manifests from 89th Airlift Wing missions with bills
    or check receipts to determine whether nonofficial passengers had
    been billed and reimbursements had been made to DOD for the
    missions, as required by OMB Circular A-126 and other guidance. To
    determine whether DFAS or the Air Mobility Command had sent bills
    and collected reimbursements for agency missions, we obtained 89th
    Airlift Wing flight records and compared them with agency mission
    requests to determine which missions were reimbursable. We also
    met with officials at DFAS' Omaha Operating Location in Nebraska
    to discuss the billing and reimbursement process and obtained
    guidance on handling billings and reimbursements. To determine
    whether bills had been sent and reimbursements collected, we
    obtained billing records, cash collection vouchers, copies of
    checks, deposit records, and other documents. Finally, we met with
    officials from the Air Mobility Command in Illinois to determine
    how they monitored the billing and reimbursement process and
    verified that funds deposited by DFAS were credited to the proper
    Air Mobility Command accounts. We also verified DFAS records as we
    deemed necessary. We did not evaluate the data used to set
    reimbursement rates that DOD charged non-DOD agencies traveling on
    reimbursable 89th Airlift Wing missions. Page 12
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft B-282994 To provide the
    background information showing which agencies of the government
    were the most frequent users of the 89th Airlift Wing, we obtained
    flight records showing every 89th Airlift Wing mission between
    January 1, 1993, and February 8, 1999. We counted as White House
    missions all missions for which the flight records indicated that
    the White House was the sponsoring agency. Thus, we counted as
    White House missions those for which the President traveled or
    other departments' or agencies' officials traveled at the
    President's direction except State Department missions, which we
    identified separately whether or not they were presidentially
    directed. We did not review the use of helicopters in the 89th
    Airlift Wing's inventory. We conducted our work from January to
    July 1999 in accordance with generally accepted government
    auditing standards. We will send copies of this report to
    interested congressional committees; Mr. John Podesta, the White
    House Chief of Staff, Executive Office of the President; the
    Honorable William S. Cohen, the Secretary of Defense; the
    Honorable Louis Caldera, the Secretary of the Army; the Honorable
    Richard Danzig, the Secretary of the Navy; the Honorable F.
    Whitten Peters, the Secretary of the Air Force; the Honorable
    Madeleine K. Albright, the Secretary of State; and the Honorable
    Jacob J. Lew, Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
    Please contact me at (202) 512-5140 if you or your staff have any
    questions about this report.  Other key contributors on this
    assignment are listed in appendix III. Sincerely yours, Mark E.
    Gebicke Director, National Security Preparedness Issues Page 13
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft Contents Letter
    1 Appendix I
    16 Comments From the Department of Defense Appendix II
    17 Comments From the Office of Management and Budget Appendix III
    18 GAO Staff Acknowledgments Related Products
    20 Tables                   Table 1: The 89th Airlift Wing's
    Inventory of Fixed-Wing Aircraft                2 Table 2: Usage
    of the 89th Airlift Wing by Agency
    3 Table 3: Actions Responding to Our 1992 Recommendations
    6 Abbreviations DFAS       Defense Finance and Accounting Service
    DOD        Department of Defense O&M        Operations and
    Maintenance OMB        Office of Management and Budget OSD
    Office of the Secretary of Defense Page 14
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft Page 15    GAO/NSIAD-99-170
    Military Aircraft Appendix I Comments From the Department of
    Defense Appendix I Page 16            GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military
    Aircraft Appendix II Comments From the Office of Management and
    Budget
    Appendix I I Page 17        GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft
    Appendix III GAO Staff Acknowledgments
    Append Iix I I Acknowledgments    Carol R. Schuster, William M.
    Solis, Brian J. Lepore, Andrew D. Crawford, and Arthur L. James,
    Jr., made key contributions to this report. Page 18
    GAO/NSIAD-99-170 Military Aircraft Page 19    GAO/NSIAD-99-170
    Military Aircraft Related Products Government Aircraft
    Travel of Government Officials on Government Aircraft (GAO/T-
    NSIAD-96-85, Dec. 29, 1995). Government Aircraft: Observations on
    Travel by Senior Officials (GAO/NSIAD-95-168BR, June 5, 1995).
    Military Aircraft: Travel on 89th Military Airlift Wing and Travel
    by Selected Officials (GAO/T-NSIAD-92-35, Apr. 30, 1992). Military
    Aircraft: Policies on Government Officials' Use of 89th Military
    Airlift Wing Aircraft (GAO/NSIAD-92-133, Apr. 9, 1992). Military
    Aircraft: Travel by Selected Executive Branch Officials (GAO/AFMD-
    92-51, Apr. 7, 1992). Department of Defense  Financial Management:
    Profile of Defense Finance and Accounting Service Financial
    Operations            Financial Managers (GAO/AIMD-98-133, May 28,
    1998). Financial Management: An Overview of Finance and Accounting
    Activities in DOD (GAO/NSIAD/AIMD-97-61, Feb. 19, 1997). High Risk
    Series: Defense Financial Management (GAO/HR-97-3, Feb. 1, 1997).
    DOD Infrastructure: DOD's Planned Finance and Accounting Structure
    Is Not Well Justified (GAO/NSIAD-95-127, Sept. 18, 1995). (703258)
    Letter         Page 20
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