rental plans. We made a review of the copiers offered by a major supplier to determine whether the agencies were in fact selecting the most economical models or rental plans offered by that supplier.

We reviewed a random sample of the copiers rented from the major supplier and found that about 30 percent of the 14,500 copiers rented during the test period were not the most economical. Had the agencies selected the most economical models or rental plans, they would have saved $510,000 in rental costs and $1.4 million in labor costs.

Some agencies did not have the information needed to compare the operating costs of the various copiers available under GSA contracts. Suppliers were not required to include such information in their catalogs describing available copiers. We recommended that GSA ask suppliers of office copiers to include specific cost data in their catalogs distributed to agencies to assist them in properly selecting copiers. GSA agreed and, in its solicitation for copiers to be supplied in 1973, requested that suppliers include such information in their catalogs. (See Appendix, Section I, Item 159.)

Assistance to the Commission on Government Procurement

The Commission on Government Procurement was established by Public Law 91-129, approved November 26, 1969, to make a comprehensive study of Federal procurement statutes, policies, and practices.

The Commission is composed of 12 members, one of which by law is the Comptroller General. A report to the Congress on the study is to be submitted by the Commission in December 1972.

Because of the Comptroller General's membership on the Commission and our considerable experience. with Federal procurement law and audits of Government agency procurement operations, we provided a considerable amount of assistance to the Commission during its study. Twelve of our professional staff members were assigned to work with the Commission's staff or its various study groups for a period of a year or longer. In addition, our Office of the General Counsel from time to time provided legal assistance through the Commission's Legal Network System.

Our professional staff gave briefings to several of the study groups on subjects being considered by the Commission and provided the Commission staff with copies of a large number of our audit reports and decisions of the Comptroller General relating to procurement. In some cases, we also made the supporting workpapers available. Direct assistance was also provided by our staffs working on major systems acquisitions and on professional service contracts and contributing suggestions on the presentations developed by individual study groups for use in briefing the Commission staff and the Commissioners on the results of their studies.

Other help was provided by our Legislative Digest Section in validating for the study groups and Commission staff the numerous citations made in the drafts of study group and special reports.

CHAPTER EIGHT

FEDERAL PERSONNEL AND COMPENSATION

Responsibilities

During fiscal year 1972 programs and activities relating to Federal personnel directly affected over 8 million Government employees and retirees and their families. Of this number, about 2.8 million were civilian employees, 3.4 million were military personnel (including 1 million reservists and National Guardsmen), and over 2.2 million were civil service and military retirees. Exclusive of about $3.5 billion of civil service retiree. pension payments made from annuity funds, the Govvernment's direct costs for salaries, wages, and military retirement benefits totaled over $56 billion, or about one-fourth of the national budget.

The Federal Personnel and Compensation Division carries out GAO's audit work relating to the programs and activities affecting these personnel. This division is under the supervision of Thomas D. Morris, Acting Director, and Forrest R. Browne, Deputy Director. An organization chart appears on the following page.

Audit responsibilities of this division cover a wide range of programs, activities, and practices employed by the Government to manage and compensate the Federal work force. These include, but are not limited to, employee training and education; systems and techniques used in personnel management; Federal pay, fringe benefit, and retirement systems; and policies and practices for acquiring, utilizing, and retaining the work force.

Description of Work

GAO has, through the years, audited programs and activities relating to management of the Federal work force. However, specialization by staff members in these areas only began in 1966 when a separate group was established in the former Defense Division to review manpower management programs and activities in the Department of Defense. Since this group continued in operation until the April 1972 reorganization of GAO (see Chapter One), the significant findings and recommendations discussed in the remaining sections of this chapter relate principally to manpower management in DOD.

When the Federal Personnel and Compensation Division was established in April 1972, it was given broad responsibilities for reviewing manpower management activities throughout the Government. It is expected that this action will lead to the division's performing a significantly increased number of Government-wide reviews of programs and activities affecting the total Federal work force.

For example, we are currently reviewing Federal pay comparability. In this review we are studying the methods used by the Government to fix the salaries of its civilian employees at rates comparable to those paid by private industry. We also are reviewing the policies, procedures, and practices used throughout the Government in reductions in force of civilian employees.

Audit Reports Issued

During the year we issued 27 reports on our audits: eight to the Congress, 10 to committees or Members of Congress on special investigations made at their request, and nine to heads of departments or agencies. Most of the reports related to such functional areas as training and education, manpower requirements and staffing, and social action programs for Federal employees.

Major Findings and Recommendations

Our reviews frequently result in findings indicating a need for improving manpower management and controls, and recommendations for improvement are included in reports on such findings. In commenting

on our reports, agency officials generally have been responsive and have indicated agreement with our findings and an intention to take corrective actions.

Major findings and recommendations discussed in reports issued during the year are summarized in the following sections of this chapter.

Training and Education

We issued two reports on training and education activities in the Department of Defense.

About 1,000 civilian employees of the Department participated during fiscal year 1971 in its graduate education programs at colleges and universities. The Government's cost for those employees attending nonFederal institutions was approximately $13 million. We reported that the objectives of the programs were not being achieved as effectively as possible, primarily, because of management's failure to fully and effectively implement existing Defense and military department regulations and, secondarily, because of deficiencies in those regulations. We recommended several means whereby controls over the programs could be improved to insure more effective and timely accomplishment of objectives. The Department and the Civil Service Commission agreed with most of our recommendations, and corrective actions have been initiated in those areas where needed. (See Appendix, Section I, Item 228.)

Department of Defense directives provide that training facilities of one military service be utilized to the maximum extent in meeting training requirements of other services. We reported that the Air Force had recently discontinued using six common skills training courses offered by other services and had established similar courses of its own, despite the fact that (1) the training previously provided by the other services was considered to be adequate and (2) establishing separate courses would result in one-time costs of about $2 million and in annual recurring costs of about $23,000. Moreover, the Air Force was considering establishing additional courses duplicating training available from other services. We recommended that the Secretary of Defense direct the Air Force to advise him of the specifics and rationale before establishing new training courses which duplicate those provided by other military departments. (See Appendix, Section I, Item 227.)

aspects of military manpower requirements and staffing.

One report dealt with the Department of Defense policy of using civilians in positions not requiring military personnel. We reported that military personnel were being used extensively in civilian-type positions. Installation commanders were reluctant to use civilians in certain positions because of budgetary restrictions and civilian employment ceilings. In our opinion, the Department's policy was not being fully applied because the military services had not determined the number and type of positions which should be filled by military personnel and which by civilians. We recommended that these determinations be made and formalized in specific guidelines for use by installations in making personnel assignments. We also recommended that, if the Congress wished early action on the substitution of civilians for military personnel in positions which could be civilianized, the Department should be authorized to transfer funds from the fiscal year 1973 military personnel appropriations to the appropriations from which civilians are compensated. (See Appendix, Section I, Item 212.)

Another report concerned the military services' use of medical personnel. We pointed out that (1) there was no uniform method of establishing manpower requirements for medical personnel for the three services, (2) imbalances existed in the number of professional personnel authorized and assigned in each service and in certain medical specialties, and (3) medical officers were being used in staff and administrative positions where their professional abilities were seldom used. Retention of medical personnel is a serious problem according to the military departments; yet, no retention goals had been set for the number and type of professional personnel needed and no career programs had been established. The Department of Defense generally agreed with our findings and informed us that it had taken action to implement many of our recommendations. (See Appendix, Section I, Item 211.)

In the third report we pointed out that, at a cost of about $6.2 million, over 2,800 Navy enlisted men were assigned to crews for 43 ships under construction during the 12 months ended July 31, 1970. The Navy made these assignments without having first evaluated work requirements to determine the number and type of personnel required. Also, some crewmembers were sent to construction sites before they were needed and were assigned tasks that were the responsibility of other Navy organizations. The Navy concurred in our recommendations that the composition and duration of such crew