GAO Leaps Into the Guard Fray

The Air Force is still in the proverbial doghouse over its use of BRAC 2005 to introduce its Total Force realignment plans for the Air National Guard. The issue so inflamed state and national officials that Congress asked the GAO to review just how effective (or ineffective) the service was in working with the “stakeholders.” What the GAO found, documented in a recent report, was a mixed bag. USAF consulted the ANG leadership, leaving it up to them to “represent the states’ perspectives,” said the GAO. Even some elements within the active Air Force felt left out of the process, noted the report. The Congressional watchdog agency also claims USAF “lacks a fully developed management framework to guide the process and evaluate the results.”