Publicly released: June 13, 2019
Objective
Our objective was to determine whether the actions taken by the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD[P]), U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) addressed the 25 recommendations made in DoD Office of Inspector General Report No. DODIG-2016-098, “Evaluation of Foreign Officer Involvement at U.S. Special Operations Command,” published on June 15, 2016 (hereafter referred to as the June 2016 OIG report).
Background
Specifically, the report identified that USSOCOM’s lack of compliance with laws and directives.
The June 2016 OIG report included data covering a four-year period from 2011 to 2014 and made 1 recommendation to the USD(P), 3 recommendations to the DIA Director, and 21 recommendations to the USSOCOM Commander related to foreign officer involvement at USSOCOM. We received the following management comments to the June 2016 OIG report.
- The USD(P) agreed with the recommendation to update the DoD directive on visits and assignments of foreign nationals.
- The DIA agreed with the recommendations to establish appropriate policy for integrating partner nation representatives into DIA SCIFs, and to ensure that the USSOCOM SCIF accreditation is in accordance with DIA and Intelligence Community Directive 705 requirements. However, the DIA requested that the recommendation to review the USSOCOM automated information systems accreditation be redirected to the USSOCOM J6 for action.
- USSOCOM agreed with 17 of the 21 recommendations regarding maintaining properly concluded foreign officer international agreements, complying with security and access procedures for foreign nationals, and conducting training for all USSOCOM personnel involved with foreign nationals. However, USSOCOM did not agree with 4 of the 21 recommendations.
Findings
We determined that USSOCOM and the DIA took corrective actions to develop policies and procedures for foreign officers assigned to the DoD. Specifically:
- USSOCOM developed internal policies related to international agreements, improved security and access procedures for foreign nationals, and conducted training for persons involved with the integration of foreign officers into USSOCOM.
- The DIA reviewed accreditations for SCIF and automated information systems, and submitted policy recommendations to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence for integrating partner nations into SCIF.
These actions addressed 24 of the 25 recommendations; therefore, we closed those recommendations. However, we determined that the USD(P) did not complete the agreed-upon action to update DoD Directive 5230.20, “Visits and Assignments of Foreign Nationals,” to include the establishment of criteria for granting exceptions to policy and the use of extended visit requests for foreign personnel. According to the Defense Technology Security Administration Acting Director, the USD(P) did not complete the agreed upon actions because the Defense Technology Security Administration is in the process of updating policy and developing a comprehensive DoD instruction that will address the recommendations made in the June 2016 OIG report. This report contains no additional recommendations.
Recommendations
The USSOCOM and DIA addressed 24 of the 25 recommendations; therefore the recommendations are closed. However, we determined that the USD(P) did not complete the agreed-upon actions to close one recommendation,
We have no recommendation for this report; however we re-emphasize the importance of addressing the recommendation made to the USD(P) to update policy regarding foreign national visits and assignments.
Management Comments and Our Response
We provided a draft of this report on May 2, 2019. No written response to this report was required and none was received. Therefore, we are publishing this report in final form.
This report is a result of Project No. D2019-DISPA3-0054.000.