NCJ Number
184110
Date Published
2000
Length
41 pages
Annotation
In response to the June 1996 terrorist attack on the U.S. military complex at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, the General Accounting Office (GAO) examined the ability of the Department of Defense (DOD) to protect U.S. forces stationed overseas from terrorist attacks.
Abstract
The GAO assessed the extent to which DOD has improved its counter-terrorism program overseas, changes in DOD's process for assessing and reporting vulnerabilities at overseas installations, and the adequacy of counter-terrorism funding and staff. The GAO visited 19 sites in Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific, as well as four of the five geographic combatant commands and most service commands in Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific. The GAO found that military forces stationed overseas are better protected today than they were 3 years ago. The Joint Staff has developed DOD-wide construction standards to ensure counter-terrorism measures are included in new construction. In addition, DOD has signed agreements with the Department of State and U.S. ambassadors or chiefs of mission to protect DOD personnel not under the jurisdiction of commanders. Geographic combatant commands have created permanent counter-terrorism offices, hired permanent counter-terrorism protection staff, and developed systems to monitor progress to correct vulnerabilities. Significant security and procedural counter-terrorism protection problems, however, continue at many military installations. For example, some installations have not developed plans to deal with terrorist attacks, others have no effective means of stopping unauthorized vehicles from entering the installation, and some lack secure access to important intelligence information. Commanders are better able to assess their vulnerability to terrorist attacks, but vulnerability assessments do not identify specific actions to rectify problems mentioned in the assessment. Moreover, limited counter-terrorism funding and trained staff have affected the ability of commanders to correct known vulnerabilities. The GAO has made recommendations to improve the vulnerability assessment reporting process, to increase congressional visibility of unfunded counter-terrorism projects to correct vulnerabilities, and to improve the training program for counter-terrorism managers.