The Department of Defense has made limited progress since
2001 developing a cadre of personnel for its space
programs and “has fallen behind” in its February 2004
space human capital strategy, the Government Accountability
Office has said.
It said that as of last June, DoD had completed three of
nine tasks of its space personnel management plan — it
covers management, education and training — and said
leadership “has not always been proactive,” citing the
plan’s low priority until 2004.
The program executive agent departed in 2005, something
that together with the difficulty of building consensus
among various services has led to delays of some of the
other tasks, according to GAO-05-833.
“DoD’s management approach for the department-wide space
cadre is inconsistent with a results-oriented management
approach in two areas,” the report said.
It said the department had yet to issue “detailed guidance
to provide accountability by institutionalizing space
cadre authorities and responsibilities,” without which
“progress may not continue” in developing qualified
personnel.
Further, DoD lacks performance measures and an evaluation
plan for assessing progress, said GAO, needed to give the
executive agent, the Secretary of Defense, and Congress
the ability to monitor progress.
As the military services address their unique needs in
various stages, GAO called for “proactive DoD leadership”
to provide assurance that the “services are obtaining and
developing the space cadre the nation needs.”
