The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued the Army three recommendations regarding how forces will engage jointly with other services in multiple domains – specifically cyber and space.
The GAO said the analysis and subsequent recommendations stem from the House Armed Services Committee’s provision in House Report 115-200 accompanying a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 for GAO to review the Army’s implementation of the concept.
The GAO reviewed Army concepts, doctrine, force design, and training documents concerning multi-domain operations while also interviewing Army and Department of Defense officials.
The GAO is recommending that the Secretary of the Army ensures the Deputy Chief of Staff assess the risk associated with staffing, equipping and training the existing Intelligence, Cyber, Electronic Warfare, and Space (ICEWS) unit before its incorporation into the first Multi-Domain Task Force in fiscal year 2020. The report also suggests that the Secretary of the Army conducts a comprehensive risk assessment associated with staffing, equipping, and training the 915th Cyber Warfare Support Battalion before approving the expansion of the unit to its full operational capability. Lastly, the report recommends that the Secretary of the Army assesses the risk associated with staffing, equipping and training of new units that it plans to activate in an accelerated manner for conducting multi-domain operations, taking into consideration the assessments performed on the first activated ICEWS battalion and the 915th Cyber Warfare Support Battalion.
The Army concurred with one recommendation and partially concurred with the other two, the GAO noted.