All US military services fail first-ever audit of Pentagon

All US military services have failed the first-ever audit of the country’s massive defense department, referred to by its officials as “the $2.7 trillion enterprise,” highlighting widespread problems in its cyber-security.

In a Friday statement on the audit, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the audit identified "multiple material weaknesses" across the department but also provided "invaluable information that will help us target and prioritize corrective actions." He did not, however, elaborate on the nature of the detected flaws.

The first-ever audit of the of the $2.7 trillion enterprise that is the Defense Department identified widespread problems in cybersecurity, but found little in the way of savings that could offset potential budget cuts next year, according to Pentagon and Congressional officials.

Pentagon's comptroller David Norquist, who has played a key role in the audit, said after the report release that although no glaring instances of fraud were detected in the US military establishment, its Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Special Operations and the Transportation Command all received failing grades.

"We didn't pass. That's the blunt and bottom line. We have issues and we're going to fix them," Norquist added without providing further details, only noting that failing marks were expected in a first-time audit.

"If you're not fixing it, the auditors will come back in exactly a year and find you didn't fix it," Norquist said prior to the report's release on Thursday. "And they're going to come the next year, and the next year until you fix it, so each year I'll be able to tell you how many findings we closed."

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One of the "material weaknesses," as Mattis put it, was in the area of cyber-security throughout the department, Norquist further emphasized, adding: "Our single largest number of findings is IT security around our businesses… and it reflects the challenges that the department faces in IT security."

He said Pentagon had to do a better job of "monitoring sensitive users, people who have special authorities, making sure there is careful monitoring to that."

A 1990 federal law mandated that US government agencies be audited, but the Pentagon had not faced a comprehensive audit until this one was launched in December.

This is while Mattis has been pushing Pentagon managers to find efficiencies and savings on contracts and operations to fund improvements in the lethality and readiness of US military forces, and also to guard against potential budget cuts in the new Congress.

Meanwhile, outgoing Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas issued a statement on the audit, warning against using the audit as an excuse to cut military funding.

The lawmaker further stressed that the audit should be used to make the military "more efficient and agile," and "it should not be used as an excuse for arbitrary cuts that reverse the progress we have begun on rebuilding our strength and readiness."

The development coincided with another report by a US Congress-mandated panel of bipartisan experts, warning that the United States runs the risk of losing a military confrontation with China or Russia.

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The 12-member commission of experts was led by former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman and former chief of naval operations, retired Adm. Gary Roughead. The panel was mandated in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017 for conducting an independent, nonpartisan review of the 2018 National Defense Strategy.

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