GAO: DoD loses track of 72,000 combat records

There are so many data breaches throughout government these days that it's getting tiresome. The question is why do they keep happening? Last week, the Government Accountability Office disclosed another one--this time from the Defense Department.

The GAO revealed that DoD could not account for more than 72,000 health questionnaires that were to have been completed by troops following their service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The discovery "suggests either that not all of these service members filled out the questionnaire or that questionnaires were filled out, but were not incorporated into Defense's central repository," wrote Randall Williamson, the GAO's director of health care in a report to Congress.

More than 300,000 returning troops have completed the questionnaires that are supposed to be electronically posted to the central database as required by the policy. In September, DoD found that 72,000 were missing.

"DoD officials specifically cited the importance of this documentation for helping the quality assurance program ensure that service members have the opportunity to have their health concerns identified and addressed," Williamson wrote.

The hunt for the records is apparently continuing. The medical help that these servicemen may need remains elusive unless these records are found. They may need mental health assistance returning from two war zones.

For more on the missing DoD data:
- see this Govexec.com article. Article

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