The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

Reserve Forces: Actions Needed to Identify National Guard Domestic Equipment Requirements and Readiness

The high use of Nat. Guard forces for overseas missions has raised questions about its ability to support civil authorities in the event of a catastrophic incident. This report assesses 2 alternatives for providing funding and authority specifically for the Guard¿s civil support missions. The author determined: (1) the extent to which planning to identify the Guard¿s civil support requirements has been undertaken; (2) the current funding approach for the Guard¿s civil support capabilities and how 3 approaches could be applied to the Guard; (3) guiding principles to consider when developing and implementing funding alternatives; and (4) the extent to which the existing and alternative approaches are consistent with these principles. Illus.

In addition to its primary mission of warfighting, the DoD plays an important role in civil support. Four years after the poorly coordinated nat. response to Hurricane Katrina, issues remain about DoD¿s progress in identifying its capability requirements for supporting a coordinated civilian-military response to a catastrophic domestic event. This report addresses the extent to which DoD: (1) has identified and addressed its capability gaps for its civil support mission; (2) has clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and relationships and identified appropriate levels and types of personnel to assign to the FEMA regions; and (3) shares and tracks info. concerning its civil support requirements response process with civil authorities Charts and tables.