The U.S. State Department needs to improve data collection and participant oversight of its Antiterrorism Assistance (ATA) program, according to a recently published report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
GAO was tasked by Congress to examine the State Department’s ability to oversee ATA participants trained in the United States and the steps to which the department has taken to ensure that facilities used for domestic ATA training align with applicable security requirements.
For its report, the office conducted fieldwork at two domestic training centers, analyzed State Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data and documentation from FY2012 to FY2016 domestic training participants, and interviewed a number of State Department and DHS officials, including those who oversaw ATA training for three partner nations.
From FY2012 to FY2016, the State Department allocated approximately $715 million to the ATA program, which it reportedly used to train approximately 56,000 security force officials from more than 34 partner nations. An estimated 2,700 of those participants were trained at facilities within the United States.
A noted weakness found by GAO was the incomplete and sometimes inaccurate nature of ATA course and participant data. According to ATA officials, procedures for data collection were not always followed.
The report stated that among participants trained in the United States since 2012, ATA has documented 10 participant unauthorized departures from ATA activities and provided related information to DHS for follow-up. Aside from those 10, ATA recently identified 20 participants trained in FY2012 to FY2016 whose departures from the U.S. following completion of training was unconfirmed.
ATA officials said there was no formal process to confirm participants’ return to their home countries following the completion of training. Short of such a process being implemented, GAO said ATA may not be able to assess the extent to which it is using training in line with program goals.
While some accountability weaknesses exist, the report said that the State Department and contractors who implement ATA training have taken steps to ensure that facilities used for domestic training align with applicable security requirements, including the secure storage of weapons and explosives and that each contractor had the necessary permits.
In order to correct vulnerabilities found within its report, GAO recommended the State Department ensures the implementation of its data collection procedures and establishes a process to confirm and document participants’ return to their home countries.