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Report | Nov. 4, 2019

Top DoD Management Challenges – Fiscal Year 2020

The DoD OIG’s Top Management Challenges document identifies the top risks and challenges for the DoD for FY 2019 and beyond. By statute, each Inspector General is required to prepare this annual statement summarizing what the IG considers the “most serious management and performance challenges facing the agency.”  The Top Management Challenges document is also part of the legal requirement, to be included in the DoD’s financial report, which was published as part of that document November 15, 2018.

These top challenges are based on a variety of factors, including DoD OIG oversight work, research, and judgment; oversight work done by other DoD components; oversight work conducted by the GAO; and input from DoD officials. While the DoD OIG reviewed DoD statements, documents, and assessments of these and other critical issues, these top challenges were identified independently.

Unlike last year, this year’s challenges focus more on the emerging challenges and the refinement of some of the critical challenges from the previous year.  These challenges include:

  • Separating state actors and terrorism into separate challenges.
     
  • Including space and missile with nuclear
     
  • Balancing force structure, modernization and readiness was reworked to focus on readiness
     
  • Transition from efficiencies to reform initiatives
     
  • The importance of financial management with the first financial statement audit being completed this year
     
  • The continued challenges in cyber, contracting, healthcare, and ethics to name a few

The challenges are not listed by order of importance, or by magintude of the challenge. They are all critically important challenges facing the DoD and make up an important part of the work that is done by the DoD OIG.

View here.