Publicly Released: May 22, 2023
The purpose of this management advisory is to inform DoD leadership of the conditions found related to the accounting and reporting of funds used in support of Operation Allies Refuge (OAR) and Operation Allies Welcome (OAW). We conducted the “Audit of DoD Reporting on Obligations and Expenditures in Support of Operation Allies Welcome” (Project No. D2022-D000FI 0095.000) to provide an understanding of the financial reporting for OAR and OAW.
During our audit, we found that DoD Components did not properly record OAW obligations and expenditures in the February 1, 2022 report to Congress. In addition, officials from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, DoD (OUSD[C]/ CFO) did not establish a uniform process for DoD Components to report the execution of OAW funding in the weekly flash reports. Furthermore, the OUSD(C)/CFO did not use an analytical tool, such as Advana, to generate a consolidated report of the OAW Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid (OHDACA) appropriation. Due to the rapidly evolving environment related to OAR and OAW and to ensure timely delivery of all relevant information to DoD leadership, we are providing this advisory, rather than a full report, so that officials from the OUSD(C)/CFO can evaluate and verify potential internal control weaknesses and initiate corrective actions to improve transparency in reporting the use of appropriated funds for contingency operations, other operations, or supplemental funding. We conducted the work on this advisory with integrity, objectivity, and independence as required by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency’s Quality Standards for Federal Offices of Inspector General.
We provided a draft copy of this management advisory to DoD management and requested written comments on the findings and recommendations. We considered management’s comments on the draft and included comments in the final advisory.
This management advisory contains four recommendations that we consider resolved and open. The OUSD(C)/CFO and Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps agreed to address all the recommendations presented in the report. As described in the Recommendations, Management Comments, and Our Response section of this report, we will close the recommendations when you provide us documentation showing that all agreed-upon actions to implement the recommendations are completed.