Army Audit Agency - Research on Soldiers’ Harmful Behaviors - January 2023

"Impact"

"What We Found"

"What We Audited"

"Army researchers considered most of these research projects and studies to be foundational or basic research..."

A 2010 Army report recommended the need to improve research governance

"47 Army-sponsored research reports published from FY 19 to FY 22"

"None of them was fully aware of the others' planned and ongoing research"

"...none of the 10 actionable recommendations in those 5 reports was directed to a specific organization."

Similar findings in a 2018 report

"Decentralized governance of research on Soldiers' harmful behaviors hindered the Army's ability to conduct and implement that research."

"The draft acknowledges that current research efforts are often fragmented and not pushed to organizations or leaders who can affect change."

"No organization had a formal process for evaluating the efficacy of research recommended in published reports."

"...they didn't have documentation showing active tracking of three of the five reports with actionable recommendations."

No research repository to share research with stakeholders... one org's rep "said stakeholders had to contact the researchers..."

"...the intent of this strategy is to move the Army toward addressing harmful behaviors in a comprehensive and preventative manner. By contrast, current programs target intervention and response actions in the moments leading up to or after an occurrence of harmful behavior."

"We also couldn't estimate Army resources dedicated to research of Soldiers' harmful behaviors."

"The target implementation date is 30 September 2024."