That's how much our leaders have budgeted for the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCOE). These centers are responsible for research into and treatment of our military personnel who have been seriously damaged. DCOE was established in 2008 but has yet to really get off the ground from a financial point of view, so says the GAO.
Their strategic plan does not specify what the group's mission is, let alone how the plan components will enable attaining the mission. Their accounting has at least one minor flaw: it doesn't make sure that expenses are classified properly. In key planning areas there are hardly any written procedures to follow. The GAO found it hard to understand just what DCOE actually did.
The situation was so bad that GAO went back for a second crack at it last month. Again, little information was available. DCOE has 'component centers' that are external to DCOE. I guess they're really external as GAO could not get necessary information - like how much they spent last year or how much they owed - for these centers. Yet, the centers are an important part of DCOE.
How could our leaders countenance such shoddy performance? True, it is small change - to them.
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