The Government Accountability Office has recommended that the Defense Department further define the roles, responsibilities and methods for communication and collaboration for groups tasked to address challenges in the oversight for the nuclear enterprise.
The GAO said in a report published Thursday that the DoD still lacks clear standards that the Nuclear Deterrent Enterprise Review Group and nuclear command, control and communications oversight bodies can follow to resolve issues in U.S. nuclear operations and policies.
The department should also update its NC3 oversight guidance to help senior DoD officials internally organize resources and manage risks.
The new recommendations come after the GAO found that the DoD and military service branches such as the U.S. Air Force and Navy still have insufficient practices for overseeing the implementation of suggestions stated in the 2014 nuclear enterprise reviews and 2015 NC3 review despite making progress in the effort.
Then Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel formed the NDERG in 2014 to address concerns in resources, personnel, organization and enterprise policies needed to protect the U.S. nuclear enterprise.