WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Defense Department agreed with all of the GAO’ recommendations on the issue, the report noted.
“GAO recommends… that [the Defense Department] designate an entity to lead the effort to identify required infrastructure [and] identify, request and consider any information from chemical and biological infrastructure studies of other federal agencies to avoid potential duplication,” the report, released on Thursday said.
The report acknowledged that the United States faces current and emerging chemical and biological threats and requires integrated defenses against them, but currently those responsibilities are split among 26 different Pentagon agencies.
Despite nearly seven years of efforts, the Defense Department’s Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP) Enterprise “has not fully achieved its goal to identify required infrastructure capabilities,” the report said.
The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs has previously identified the need for a body to oversee priorities of these different agencies, but the Defense Department had yet to designate or create it, the GAO said.
