Services failing to track base access

The Army, Marines and Navy should be doing a better job of monitoring access to their bases as a way to prevent mass shootings like devastating attack that killed 13 at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, according to a Government Accountability Office report. In 2013, a Navy contractor killed 12 in a shooting at the Washington (DC) Navy Yard. All branches of the military rely on physical access control systems (PACS) to screen people who onboard those bases - checking identities with FBI and other government databases. The GAO discovered that the Defense Department "didn't know the extent to which its installations were using these systems because the Army, Navy and Marine Corps have not monitored their use," the report states. "The Air Force and (Defense Logistics Agency) monitor their installations' use of PACS, and the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps do not." GAO conducted several base site visits to observe the use of the access systems and found that AF and DLA officials routinely collect data, and the number of credentials scanned at their bases, according to the report. The AF uses the data to brief base commanders on the risks associated with not using Defense Biometric Identification Systems (DBIDS), the report states. DBIDS is used by the AF, Navy, Marines and DLA to control access to respective bases. The system uses hardware and software to electronically connect databases using the DoD’s Identity Matching Engine for Security and Analysis to determine an individual's fitness for access, according to the GAO. Army, Navy and Marine Corps officials stated they do not monitor physical access control system use at their installations because the DoD does not require it, according to the report. DoD’s lack of a requirement means the Army, Navy and Marines "do not know the extent to which PACS are being used at more than 100 installations," according to the report. As a result of findings, GAO made five recommendations … (Source: Military.com 08/25/19) https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/08/25/services-failing-track-base-access-years-after-mass-shootings-gao-finds.html