Background

		Requirements for Travel on Military Aircraft

OMB Circular A-126 and DOD guidance require that DOD’s aircraft for  special air missions operate primarily for official purposes to: perform agency responsibilities, as directed by the Secretary of  Defense or the President;  transport officials that the President or the Secretary of Defense  designate due to the need for security, secure communications, or  exceptional scheduling; and  transport officials for other agency business, such as giving speeches,  attending conferences, and making routine site visits.
DOD guidance also states that certain officials, such as the Secretary of  Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are required at all  times to use military aircraft in lieu of commercial aircraft. Because of this  requirement, these officials are authorized to fly on military aircraft for  unofficial travel. Guests may accompany authorized senior federal government officials when space is available; however, schedulers may  not select a larger aircraft to accommodate guests. Moreover, guests are  required to pay the U.S. Treasury the cost of a coach-class ticket for a  comparable itinerary.

		Role of the 89th Airlift Wing in Special Air Missions for DOD

The 89th Airlift Wing, which is headquartered at Joint Base Andrews in  Maryland, provides worldwide transportation for cabinet members,  members of Congress, and other high-ranking dignitaries of the United  States and foreign governments. Within the 89th Airlift Wing, the  Presidential Airlift Group manages air transportation exclusively for the  President. The Office of Special Air Missions, which is within the Office of  the Air Force’s Vice Chief of Staff, coordinates and schedules the 89th  Airlift Wing’s special air missions.
As of December 2013, the 89th Airlift Wing supported special air missions  by maintaining a fleet of 15 aircraft, which was composed of 5 C-20Bs  (equivalent to a Gulfstream III), 6 C-37A/Bs (equivalent to a Gulfstream V)  and 4 C-32s (equivalent to a Boeing 757). Figure 1 show examples of  these aircraft.
Appendix II provides details on the capabilities of aircraft in the 89th Airlift  Wing. The 89th Airlift Wing’s flight operations are funded from annual  appropriations to the Air Force’s operation and maintenance account. The  Air Mobility Command manages the portion of the account that funds the  wing. For fiscal year 2012, the wing reported an annual operating budget  of $70.7 million.

		Process for Requesting, Approving, and Scheduling Special Air Missions

OMB, DOD, and White House guidance outlines the process that  executive branch agencies, the White House, and Congress follow to  request, approve, prioritize, and schedule travel by senior government  officials on military aircraft (see fig. 2).
Senior federal government officials seeking to travel on 89th Airlift Wing  aircraft must submit their requests for review and agency-level approval  within their respective agencies. The agency is expected to review the  itinerary and passenger list, ascertain whether the trip is for official  reasons, and determine whether the agency should reimburse DOD for  the cost of the travel. When the travel is directed by the President, the  request is reviewed and approved by the Office of the Secretary of  Defense’s Executive Secretary. Members of Congress submit their  requests to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for  Legislative Affairs for review and approval. Requests from executive  branch agencies, including those prepared by DOD, are submitted to the  Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Executive Secretary for review and  approval. Once approved, requests are forwarded to the Air Force’s  Office of Special Air Missions for scheduling and a unique five-digit  identifying number is assigned for each mission. If the 89th Airlift Wing  does not have sufficient aircraft to accommodate all of the requests for  travel, the Office of Special Air Missions works with the agencies to  accommodate their requests. Accommodating requests may entail  changing the time or dates, or using aircraft from sources outside of the  89th Airlift Wing. If Air Force schedulers cannot accommodate competing  requests, schedulers plan the missions according to the traveling officials’  priority rankings, which are shown in table 1.

		Requirement to Reimburse for Travel on Special Air Missions

Federal agencies generally are required to reimburse DOD for the cost of  special air missions flown by the 89th Airlift Wing. After the completion  of a special air mission that is reimbursable to DOD, the Office of Special  Air Missions sends a memo to Air Mobility Command’s Financial  Management Directorateincludes an invoice for the mission’s costs. The Financial Management  Directorate reviews the invoice information and, if approved, forwards it to  the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), which inputs the  invoice information into the Air Force’s General Accounting and Finance  System. DFAS notifies the Department of the Treasury to transfer funds   to collect payment for the mission. The memo  for the mission’s costs from the traveling agency’s budget account into  the Air Force’s budget account. Once the transfer of funds is complete,  DFAS records the reimbursement in the Air Force’s accounting system.  This process is shown in figure 3.
In accordance with OMB Circular A-126, DOD calculates the  reimbursement amount for special air missions by multiplying a  predetermined hourly rate of the particular type of aircraft by the number  of hours flown. The Air Force sets the hourly rate—based on historical  actual costs and projected mission costs—to cover fuel, maintenance,  and the salaries of military personnel who plan and execute the missions.  Table 2 shows the reimbursement rates for federal agencies for fiscal  years 2008 through 2012. These reimbursement rates do not include the  cost of in-flight services such as catering and secure communications,  which are provided by DOD-approved private contractors and are billed  separately.

	Number and Cost of Special Air Missions Have Increased Over 5 Years

From fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2012, the 89th Airlift Wing flew a  total of 2,513 special air missions—522 special air missions during fiscal  year 2012, a 13-percent increase over the 463 missions that it flew during  fiscal year 2008. The cost of special air missions ranged from about $17  million in fiscal year 2008 to about $26 million in fiscal year 2012, and the  fees paid for secure communication services ranged from about $4 million  in fiscal year 2008 to $7 million in fiscal year 2012.

		Number of Special Air Missions Increased 13 Percent and Cost About $96 Million for Fiscal Years 2008 Through 2012

From fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2012, the 89th Airlift Wing flew  2,513 special air missions to transport senior federal government officials  at a cost of about $96 million. As table 3 shows, over the 5-year period  that we reviewed, the number of special air missions—which include  reimbursable and nonreimbursable missions—flown by the 89th Airlift  Wing generally increased. Overall, the number of special air missions  increased by 13 percent from fiscal year 2008 (463 missions) through  fiscal year 2012 (522 missions). Officials from the 89th Airlift Wing told us  that this increase in special air missions was caused by many factors,  including greater demand from DOD and other federal agencies for 89th  Airlift Wing aircraft and the limited availability of other military and  government-operated aircraft to transport senior federal government  officials. The annual cost of special air missions fluctuated from a low of  $14 million in fiscal year 2009 to a high of $26 million in fiscal year 2012.  Officials attributed this cost fluctuation to the increase in the number of  missions flown, as well as cost changes in fuel, aircraft maintenance, and  military personnel salaries.
The federal agencies with the largest number of special air missions were  DOD (1,928 missions) and the Department of State (220 missions), as  shown in figure 4. Members of Congress had the next highest number of  missions with 133 missions. Collectively, these two agencies and  Congress accounted for about 91 percent of all special air missions flown  by the 89th Airlift Wing. Examples of why agencies used 89th Airlift Wing  aircraft—instead of their own agencies’ aircraft or commercial aircraft— include:
An official from the Department of State was directed by the President  to travel on a nonreimbursable basis in furtherance of foreign policy,  for which commercial aircraft would not be able to provide the  necessary secure communications and security.
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs traveled on a reimbursable basis  due to exceptional scheduling demands.
The Attorney General traveled on a reimbursable basis because the  Department of Justice’s Gulfstream aircraft was unavailable while  being used on another mission.
See appendix III for a complete breakout of the special air missions flown  by the 89th Airlift Wing, by traveling agency and by fiscal year.
Of the four types of military aircraft that the 89th Airlift Wing used for  special air missions during fiscal years 2008 through 2012, the C-20B  (Gulfstream III) was used most often to transport senior federal  government officials, accounting for over 40 percent of all missions. The  C-20B can carry up to 12 passengers and is used primarily for travel  within the continental United States. The C-37A (Gulfstream V) and C- 37B (Gulfstream V) also can carry up to 12 passengers, but can fly more  than twice the distance and hours as the C-20B. The C-32A (Boeing 757)  can carry up to 46 passengers, and can fly about the same distance and  hours as the C-37A and C-37B. Table 4 shows the number of special air  missions flown on each of the 89th Airlift Wing’s aircraft, and by fiscal  year. Appendix II provides more information on the capabilities of these  aircraft.

		Agencies Paid DOD About $29 Million for Secure Communications

During fiscal years 2008 through 2012, federal agencies paid DOD about   for providing secure communications services (e.g., secure  $29 milliontelephone calls, e-mail, and Internet access) on 89th Airlift Wing special  air missions (see table 5). Annual fees for secure communications  services ranged from about $4 million in fiscal year 2008 to $7 million in  fiscal year 2012.
Agencies pay DOD for secure communications services that are used  during flights. Each agency is charged a fee of $500 to $1,000 per special  air mission for secure communications services and pre-flight equipment  testing, regardless of whether agencies use this capability. Additional  charges are applied on a per-unit basis, so agencies are charged per  minute of telephone time and per kilobyte of data downloaded. Agencies  that fly frequently on military aircraft can enter into an annual support  agreement with the 89th Airlift Wing that includes an estimate of charges  it will pay for secure communications services in the upcoming fiscal year.

	Agencies Followed Guidance for Special Air Missions, but DOD Does Not Identify and Track Reimbursements for Each Mission

DOD and other federal agencies followed DOD guidance on the high- priority movement of senior federal government officials on military  aircraft. This guidance addresses the request, approval, prioritization,  scheduling—and in DOD’s case—reimbursement from non-DOD  agencies for special air missions. However, DOD does not identify and  track whether it was reimbursed for each special air mission. DOD  guidance does not specify that DOD officials should track  reimbursements by special air mission. However, internal control  standards emphasize the importance of activities, such as documenting  transactions, to help ensure that management directives are carried out— in this case, that each special air mission was reimbursed when required.  We found that DOD was unable to document reimbursement for 16  (about 9 percent) of 180 special air missions; the 16 missions cost about  $353,000 during fiscal years 2009 through 2012.

		Agencies Follow Guidance for Special Air Missions

DOD established processes governing the use of military aircraft by  senior federal government officials from DOD, other executive branch  agencies, the White House, and Congress, including a process for  collecting reimbursements when required. These processes outline  procedures for requesting, approving, and prioritizing travel to minimize  costs and to effectively use limited resources. For example, the Office of  Special Air Missions established guidance outlining its process for  contacting and coordinating with traveling agencies prior to scheduling a  mission. Agencies follow the processes outlined in the guidance in order  to be approved to use military aircraft. Further, the processes implement  the requirement that federal agencies reimburse DOD for the cost of  special air missions flown by the 89th Airlift Wing. Traveling agencies  reimburse at a rate that the Air Force sets annually for each aircraft type  to cover the cost of fuel and maintenance, contractor fees, and salaries of   For example, for  military personnel who plan and execute the missions.fiscal year 2012, the Air Force set a reimbursement rate of $3,273 per  flying hour for each of six C-37A/B aircraft in the 89th Airlift Wing.
Since our 1999 report, in which we found that DOD did not collect  payments for all billed reimbursable missions, DOD established  partnership agreements with several agencies that travel frequently on  military aircraft. These agreements allow for electronic transfer of funds  via the Department of Treasury’s Intra-governmental Payment and  Collection System to cover the cost of a completed special air mission.  DFAS officials told us that under these partnership agreements, when a  special air mission is approved and scheduled, the traveling agency  agrees to pay an estimated amount of money to cover the cost of that  mission. After the 89th Airlift Wing notifies DFAS that a mission has been  completed, DFAS transfers funds from the traveling agency to DOD to  cover mission costs. If a traveling agency does not have a partnership  agreement with DOD to enable transfer of funds through the Intra- Governmental Payment and Collection System, DFAS will bill the agency  for reimbursement costs.

		DOD Does Not Identify and Track Reimbursements for Each Special Air Mission

We determined that traveling agencies should have reimbursed DOD  approximately $5 million for 180 (about 9 percent) of the 2,050 special air  missions flown during fiscal years 2009 through 2012. However, DOD  does not identify and track the billing and reimbursement for each special  air mission and officials could not document whether agencies paid all  required reimbursements.
Of the 180 reimbursable special air missions flown by the 89th Airlift Wing  during fiscal years 2009 through 2012, 77 missions involved agencies  that, given the sensitivity of their work, are not identified in this report at  DOD’s request.special air missions were the Department of State (49 missions) and  Department of Homeland Security (34 missions). Collectively, these three  groups of agencies accounted for about 89 percent of reimbursable  special air missions flown on the 89th Airlift Wing’s aircraft. Table 6 shows  the number and cost of reimbursable special air missions by each  traveling agency during fiscal years 2009 through 2012.

	Conclusions

From fiscal years 2008 through 2012, the Air Force’s 89th Airlift Wing flew  senior federal government officials on more than 3,400 special air  missions. DOD has developed a process to manage requests, approvals,  and scheduling that is consistent with OMB and DOD guidance. However,  without a process to identify and track the costs and applicable agency  reimbursements on a mission-by-mission basis, and DOD is unable to  document whether it was paid for all required reimbursements.  Consequently, DOD may not be receiving required reimbursements for  the cost of special air missions.

	Recommendation for Executive Action

To ensure that federal agencies fully reimburse DOD for special air  missions when required to do so, we recommend that the Secretary of  Defense direct the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief  Financial Officer to revise guidance and require that DOD organizations  develop and implement a process that identifies and tracks each special  air mission, such as tracking by mission number or another unique  identifier, from billing through reimbursement for all applicable costs.

	Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

We provided a draft of this report to DOD for official review and comment.  In its written response, reproduced in appendix IV, DOD concurred with  our recommendation and provided additional comments. DOD also  provided technical clarifications, which we incorporated where  appropriate.
In its written comments, DOD stated that our recommendation would  address the documentation problems that we identified in the  reimbursement process. Specifically, DOD stated that it anticipates  issuing further regulatory guidance to address our recommendation, and  the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Executive Secretary has asked  federal agencies requesting the use of military aircraft to include a line of  accounting code in each request memo. According to DOD, this  accounting code, along with the Air Force’s unique five-digit number for  each special air mission, will ensure repayments of appropriate mission  expenses. We believe that DOD is taking a step in the right direction to  improve its internal controls by including a line of accounting code in the  request memos, which would identify the agency budget account to  charge and would make the billing process quicker. However, agencies  often reimburse for multiple missions with one payment under the same  budget account, which would still not identify whether each special air  mission was reimbursed. We continue to believe that DOD should use the  unique identifiers that it assigns to each special air mission to track each  mission throughout the billing and reimbursement process to better  ensure that DOD is fully reimbursed, as appropriate, for each mission.  Doing so would allow DOD to fix a gap in internal controls that does not  allow DOD to readily match billing with subsequent reimbursements for  each special air mission and would fully address our recommendation.  During our review, we and DOD officials had to expend considerable time  and effort to identify, obtain, and analyze documentation to determine  whether the department was appropriately reimbursed for each special air  mission.
In its written comments, DOD also stated that we did not include a large  portion of the missions flown by the 89th Airlift Wing that supported travel  by the President, Vice President, and their families in this review. We  recognize that these missions are a large part of the 89th Airlift Wing’s  total missions; however, the scope of this review focused solely on travel  by high-level executives within DOD and other federal agencies.
We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional  committees; the Secretary of Defense; the Under Secretary of Defense  for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics; the Under Secretary of  Defense (Comptroller); the Secretary of the Air Force; the Office of  Management and Budget; General Services Administration; the White  House Military Office; and other interested parties. In addition, the report  is available at no charge on the GAO website at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact  me at (404) 679-1875 or curriec@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices  of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last  page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this report  are listed in appendix V.

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

To determine the extent to which senior federal government officials have  used military aircraft and the costs associated with this travel, we  obtained and analyzed information from the 89th Airlift Wing regarding  special air missions during fiscal years 2008 through 2012 for executive  branch agencies and Congress. Specifically, we tabulated the number of  special air missions flown by agency and by fiscal year. We excluded  from our review special air missions on aircraft outside of those in the Air  Force’s 89th Airlift Wing that DOD infrequently uses to transport senior  officials. The aircraft used outside of the 89th Airlift Wing include assets of  the Air Force’s 310th Air Squadron located at MacDill Air Force Base,  Florida; the 201st Air Squadron at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland; the  932nd Airlift Wing at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; as well as aircraft of  the Navy, Army, U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. European Command, and  U.S. Africa Command. To determine the costs associated with the 89th  Airlift Wing’s special air missions, we calculated the cost of special air  missions flown during fiscal years 2008 through 2012 using the flight  duration of the mission and the cost per flying hour associated with the  type of aircraft used. The cost per flying hour is calculated by the Air  Force at the end of each fiscal year by dividing the actual annual costs for  fuel, maintenance, and the salaries of military personnel who plan and  execute the missions by the number of hours flown for each aircraft. We  analyzed the data for any anomalies, such as inaccurate or missing  information. Further, we met with officials from the Air Force’s Office of  Special Air Missions and the White House Military Office to discuss how  the mission data was accumulated and validated for accuracy and  completeness. We determined that the data on the number of special air  missions flown, the names of the traveling agencies that flew on these  missions, and the costs associated with these missions were sufficiently  reliable for the purposes of our review.
To determine the extent to which agencies have followed guidance  governing the use of military aircraft by senior federal government  officials, we analyzed relevant directives, instructions, manuals, and other  guidance issued by DOD, OMB, and the White House, reviewed relevant  laws, and met with cognizant officials from these organizations, and from  the General Services Administration and the Department of the Treasury.  We compared the organizations’ guidance and the Standards for Internal  Control in the Federal Government to the request, approval, scheduling,  and reimbursement processes adopted by the 89th Airlift Wing, Air  Force’s Office of Special Air Missions, Air Force’s Air Mobility Command,  DFAS, and the White House Military Office to determine whether the  processes were in accordance with the guidance and internal control  standards. This review does not include travel by the President, Vice  President, First Lady, and Second Lady. To identify those special air  missions for which DOD should be reimbursed and the amounts to be  reimbursed, we analyzed Air Force and DFAS billing and payment data,  which were available for the past four years from fiscal years 2009  through 2012. To determine if DOD received payments for the identified  reimbursable missions, we reviewed billing and reimbursement  documentation and met with officials from DFAS and Air Mobility  Command to discuss their process for collecting and tracking  reimbursements. We determined that the reimbursement data were  sufficiently reliable for the purposes of our review.
We conducted this performance audit from March 2013 to February 2014  in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain  sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our  findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that  the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and  conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Appendix II: Capabilities of Military Aircraft Used By the 89th Airlift Wing to Perform Special Air Missions

	Aircraft (civilian equivalent) C-20B (Gulfstream III)

Passenger capacity   (with ravens)  12 (10)
Vice President, Secretary of State,  Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff  12 (10)
Vice President, Secretary of State,  Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary of  Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of  Staff, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of  Staff  12 (10)

Appendix III: 89th Airlift Wing’s Number of Special Missions, by Traveling Agency and by Fiscal Year (in Alphabetical Order)

Appendix III: 89th Airlift Wing’s Number of  Special Missions, by Traveling Agency and by  Fiscal Year (in Alphabetical Order)

	Agencies Agriculture Commerce Congress DOD Energy Health and Human Services Homeland Security Housing and Urban Development Interior Justice Labor, Veterans Affairs, Transportation Sensitive Missions State Treasury Total

Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Defense

Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments

	GAO Contact

	Staff Acknowledgments

In addition to the contact named above, Marc Schwartz, Assistant  Director; John Beauchamp; Richard Burkard; Cynthia Grant; Hillary  Hampton; Gina Hoffman; Amie Steele Lesser; Richard Powelson; and  Christine San made key contributions to this report.

Summary:
Why GAO Did This Study

Senior federal government officials—including high-ranking DOD officials, cabinet members, and members of Congress—are required or authorized to fly on military aircraft. This high-priority movement of senior government officials, known as special air missions, is accomplished with a fleet of 15 aircraft assigned to the Air Force's 89th Airlift Wing, located at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Both the Office of Management and Budget and DOD issued guidance on the management and use of these aircraft.
GAO was requested to examine government officials' use of military aircraft and the regulations and policies that govern such travel. GAO examined the extent to which (1) senior federal government officials have used military aircraft and the costs associated with this travel, and (2) agencies have followed guidance governing the use of military aircraft by senior federal government officials. GAO reviewed relevant legislation and guidance, DOD's processes, and special air mission data from fiscal years 2008 through 2012. This review does not include air travel by the President, Vice President, First Lady, and Second Lady.

What GAO Found

The Air Force's 89th Airlift Wing flew 2,513 special air missions for senior federal government officials during fiscal years 2008 through 2012, with the number of missions increasing by 13 percent from 463 missions in fiscal year 2008 to 522 missions in fiscal year 2012. The cost of special air missions ranged from about $17 million in fiscal year 2008 to about $26 million in fiscal year 2012, and the fees paid for secure communication services ranged from about $4 million in fiscal year 2008 to $7 million in fiscal year 2012. The federal agencies with the greatest number of special air missions were the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of State. Members of Congress had the next highest number of missions. Collectively, these agencies and Congress constituted about 91 percent of all special air missions flown by the 89th Airlift Wing.
DOD and other federal agencies followed DOD guidance on the high-priority movement of senior federal government officials on military aircraft, but DOD does not identify and track reimbursements for each mission. This guidance addresses the request, approval, prioritization, scheduling, and reimbursement from non-DOD agencies for special air missions. Federal internal control standards emphasize the importance of internal control activities, such as documenting transactions and events, to help ensure that management's directives are carried out. However, DOD does not identify and track whether it was reimbursed for each special air mission. GAO determined that traveling agencies should have reimbursed DOD approximately $5 million for 180 special air missions flown during fiscal years 2009 through 2012. However, GAO found that DOD was unable to document reimbursement for 16 of the 180 special air missions. Specifically, 2 of the 16 missions were not billed to the proper agency in fiscal year 2010. DOD officials stated that the remaining 14 missions were properly billed, but officials could not document reimbursement. DOD officials told GAO that they do not routinely identify and track reimbursements for each mission and that DOD's guidance does not specifically require organizations to identify and track each special air mission throughout the billing and reimbursement process, such as tracking by mission number or another unique identifier. This is partly because agencies at times make one payment to DOD for multiple missions. However, without a process to identify and track each special air mission for reimbursement, DOD cannot ensure that it has been fully reimbursed as required by DOD guidance.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DOD ensure federal agencies fully reimburse for special air missions when required by developing a process to identify and track each mission, such as by mission number or another unique identifier, from billing through reimbursement for all applicable costs. In written comments on a draft of the report, DOD concurred with the recommendation.