The next is the Nov. 21, 2024, Authorities Accountability Workplace report, Particular Operations Forces: Further Oversight Might Assist Mitigate Excessive-Danger Coaching Accidents.
From the report
What GAO Discovered
About 80 % of the over 3,600 reported on-duty, non-combat accidents involving particular operations forces (SOF) personnel occurred throughout coaching actions in fiscal years 2012 by 2022, in response to navy service security heart knowledge. About 40 % of the full reported coaching accidents occurred in two high-risk coaching areas, parachute coaching and fight dive coaching. Additionally, the information present that over 80 % of coaching accidents have been reported as because of human error. Components that have been generally current and contributed to those accidents included failure to stick to coaching requirements and complacency.
U.S. Particular Operations Command (SOCOM) established a proper program to supervise SOF high-risk coaching to extend standardization and assist mitigate threat. The command designated seven coaching areas as excessive threat in 2022 however has not analyzed accident developments in these coaching areas nor in different areas that could possibly be excessive threat, in response to officers. Consequently, SOCOM could miss a rise in points associated to security inside coaching packages that aren’t already designated excessive threat. Additional, SOCOM has not totally applied a key oversight part of its formal program that standardizes SOF coaching actions to assist mitigate threat. SOCOM plans to increase this system’s scope, however the command has not reevaluated its skill to perform an growth and determine assets for this program. Consequently, SOCOM shouldn’t be positioned to make sure that the SOF service elements are mitigating security dangers of their high-risk coaching packages.
GAO discovered that the 4 SOF service elements assorted in addressing SOCOM’s seven oversight necessities for high-risk coaching of their respective insurance policies. However none totally addressed all seven or had established milestones to take action. By not establishing milestones for the SOF service elements, SOCOM doesn’t have cheap assurance of an efficient strategy to security with standardized oversight throughout the service elements to mitigate coaching dangers.
Why GAO Did This Examine
SOF personnel put together to perform difficult missions by performing high-risk coaching actions. Nonetheless, critical accidents involving SOF personnel have raised questions in regards to the security of those actions.
Senate Report 117-130 features a provision for GAO to overview SOF coaching accidents. This report examines developments from fiscal years 2012 by 2022 in reported on-duty, non-combat accidents, together with coaching accidents, involving SOF personnel. The report additionally describes GAO’s evaluation of the extent to which (1) SOCOM has developed an strategy to successfully oversee SOF high-risk coaching, and (2) the SOF service elements have addressed SOCOM’s oversight necessities for high-risk coaching.
GAO analyzed accident knowledge from fiscal years 2012 by 2022; reviewed coaching, threat administration, and security paperwork; and interviewed officers.
What GAO Recommends
GAO is making six suggestions together with that SOCOM analyze security knowledge to determine high-risk coaching areas, re-evaluate its coaching evaluation program, and set up milestones for the 4 SOF service part instructions to finish updates to their insurance policies that embrace SOCOM’s high-risk coaching oversight necessities. DOD agreed with the suggestions.
Obtain the doc right here.
