In 2011, according to Corrosion Office officials, the Corrosion Office established the TCC program, a research and development program that is the successor to the University Corrosion Collaboration (UCC) pilot program, established in 2008. The TCC program builds on efforts of the UCC pilot program by expanding and formalizing the role of military personnel, such as representatives at military research labs, in problem identification, research project development, project monitoring, and product transition. DOD relies, in part, on researchers at universities and military research labs to identify, pursue, and develop new technologies that address the prevention or mitigation of corrosion affecting military assets. The Corrosion Office oversees the TCC program, advocates for TCC funding as part of the President’s annual budget, funds TCC projects based on available budget, convenes and chairs the panel that selects projects, and regularly communicates progress and status of the TCC program to the Corrosion Control and Prevention Executives (hereafter referred to as Corrosion Executives).The Corrosion Office’s 2014 DOD Corrosion Prevention and Mitigation Strategic Plan includes an objective to increase the number of people educated in corrosion engineering and management. With regard to the TCC program, the strategic plan cites the education goal of producing individuals with education and skills that will form the future core of DOD’s corrosion community. The current TCC program includes 15 universities—civilian institutions and military academic institutions to conduct projects in corrosion issues Appendix II shows the current list of TCC-affiliated universities and labs, as of February 2014. As of February 2014, according to the Corrosion Office, it has provided funding to universities and labs for 126 projects since the program began in 2008. —and nine military research labs that support the universities. The universities associated with the TCC program are responsible for, among other things, assisting in the identification of research and development opportunities; conducting TCC projects in collaboration with other universities and DOD technical personnel at the military research labs; and producing products that can be transitioned to systems Additionally, military research development, or prototype demonstration. labs are responsible for, among other things, identifying areas of research and development that can mitigate current DOD corrosion problems or address future problems; working with the universities participating in the TCC program to develop sound and focused research and development projects; and monitoring and guiding work in progress at the universities. The term “university” includes civilian institutions and military academic institutions. Civilian institutions include public universities, a private university, and a commercial organization that conduct research. SAFE Inc. is the commercial organization that, among other things, conducts TCC projects for the U.S. Air Force Academy. Military academic institutions include military service academies (i.e., the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; the Naval Postgraduate School; and the Air Force Institute of Technology, a graduate school). The evolution of technology comprises four main phases: (1) Understanding the concept/obtaining a better understanding of the concept (i.e., research), (2) Technology Product Development, (3) Technology Demonstration, and (4) Implementation. The TCC program falls under the first phase and the military demonstration projects, which we previously reported on, fall under phase 3. Military demonstration projects differ from the TCC projects because they are more mature than TCC projects. The Corrosion Office oversees processes to select, approve, and fund projects within the TCC program. Selection: According to the Corrosion Office, the office convened a panel of experts chaired by the Deputy Director of the Corrosion Office and including personnel from the Corrosion Office and the Director of the research center at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The panel of experts evaluates civilian institutions’ white papers and more- detailed formal proposals to select institutions’ project proposals for final approval by the Corrosion Office. The Corrosion Office directly evaluates proposals submitted by military academic institutions and labs to select entities for approval. Approval: The Corrosion Office’s Deputy Director approves the final list of TCC projects to be conducted by civilian institutions and military academic institutions, and the final list of military research labs that support the institutions. Funding: When civilian institutions’ proposals are approved, the Corrosion Office provides funds—primarily using Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation funds, and some Operation and Maintenance funds—to the contracting division within the U.S. Air Force Academy, which pays the researchers at the civilian institutions to conduct research. Researchers at the military academic institutions and military research labs receive funding directly from the Corrosion Office. The Corrosion Office monitors the projects through, among other things, TCC annual reviews and status reports. Corrosion Office officials stated that when a university completes its research, university project managers send a final report about the results to the Corrosion Office. DOD’s Corrosion Office has established procedures for managing some aspects of the TCC program, but it has not documented procedures for approving TCC projects. Specifically, for civilian institutions, the Corrosion Office has documented procedures for selecting projects, but it has not documented procedures for approving these projects. Additionally, the Corrosion Office has not documented procedures for selecting and approving projects for military academic institutions that conduct the research and military research labs that support civilian and military institutions. The Corrosion Office revised its DOD Corrosion Prevention and Mitigation Strategic Plan in January 2014 to include the minimum requirements and other factors to consider when selecting projects to be funded under the TCC program. Prior to the revised 2014 strategic plan, according to Corrosion Office officials, they included the process for selecting projects in the TCC Definitions Document, which was created and shared with the participants of the TCC program in 2010. Corrosion Office officials stated that they updated the contents of the definitions document and included the information in the revised strategic plan. However, we found that procedures for managing key aspects of the TCC program, such as procedures for selecting and approving TCC projects, are not fully documented in the 2014 revised strategic plan or other documentation, such as management directives, administrative policies, or operating manuals for some projects. According to the Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, all transactions and other significant events, such as the procedures for managing the TCC program, need to be clearly documented and readily available for examination. As part of internal control standards, documentation should appear in management directives, administrative policies, or operating manuals, and may be in paper or electronic form. In addition, these standards state that all documentation and records should be properly managed and maintained. For civilian institutions, Corrosion Office officials stated that they use the U.S. Air Force Academy’s documented process, called the Broad Agency Announcement (hereafter referred to as the BAA process), which includes written instructions or procedures for selecting projects, but the office has not documented how the Deputy Director of the Corrosion Office approves the final list of projects. These officials stated that under the BAA process, the U.S. Air Force Academy publicly announces the Corrosion Office’s intent to fund TCC projects that focus on researching technologies to help prevent and mitigate corrosion affecting military assets. Corrosion Office officials stated that they use the BAA process to review and evaluate white papers and formal proposals. According to representatives from civilian institutions, they provide white papers and formal proposals in response to the BAA. A Corrosion Office official stated that procedures associated with selecting projects, such as identifying that the Corrosion Office will convene and chair the project selection panel, are partially documented in the TCC Definitions Document. Corrosion Office officials also stated that their 2014 strategic plan identifies that the office will convene and chair the panel. According to Corrosion Office officials, to review the white papers, the Corrosion Office convenes a panel of experts, and the panel uses requirements identified in the BAA to evaluate which civilian institutions will be notified to submit formal proposals. These officials stated that the panel selects white papers for additional development, requests the civilian institutions to provide formal proposals, and evaluates formal proposals based on requirements published in the BAA. Specifically, the panel identifies which formal proposals will be considered for final approval by the Corrosion Office and sends the selected proposals to the Corrosion Office’s Deputy Director for final approval. Once the projects are approved, according to agency officials, the Corrosion Office provides TCC funds to the U.S. Air Force Academy, which pays the researchers at the civilian institutions through cooperative agreements and grants. For military academic institutions, Corrosion Office officials stated that they have established a process for selecting projects, which is identified in DOD’s TCC Definitions Document and its 2014 strategic plan that include requirements and other factors to consider when selecting some TCC projects for approval. Officials stated that the requirements apply to both civilian institutions and military academic institutions. However, the Corrosion Office has not documented the type of information required from military academic institutions, including project proposals and steps taken by decision makers to select and approve projects. The Corrosion Office evaluates military proposals to select some projects for approval based on requirements identified in the definitions document and 2014 revised strategic plan. The Corrosion Office approves the final list of TCC projects based on the proposals it receives from the military academic institutions and provides funds directly to the researchers at the military academic institutions to conduct research. The Corrosion Office uses Military Interdepartmental Purchase Requests to transfer funds between the Corrosion Office and the military academic institutions.