Summary: GAO evaluated the Army's management of its contractor-operated troop schools, to determine whether the: (1) Army determined troop school courses and the number of soldiers attending them in accordance with Army regulations; (2) contractors taught courses that were consistent with Army standards and doctrine; and (3) Army established effective controls over the schools' operations.
GAO found that: (1) since none of the facilities conducted adequate needs assessments or considered training alternatives before contracting for courses, the Army did not know whether it needed the courses or how many soldiers should attend them; (2) although many installations had certification programs to test soldiers' proficiency in certain duty positions, they did not implement review procedures to ensure that the tests met Army standards or adequately measured soldier proficiency; (3) the facilities had no internal controls to ensure that contractors did not use the certification programs to create a false demand for courses; (4) the Army had no established criteria to determine cross-training requirements; (5) many troop schools taught tactical or combat-related and leadership courses that duplicated courses that Army personnel taught; (6) many troop school officials did not submit course programs of instruction to the Army for review and approval, resulting in course content varying from base to base and the use of outdated Army doctrine; and (7) the Army had not developed course monitoring and evaluation guidance.
