Audit of the Disposition of Sensitive Security Assets at U.S. Embassies Kabul, Afghanistan, and Kyiv, Ukraine

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security develop and implement guidance requiring overseas posts to periodically assess the volume of special protective equipment and hazardous materials. The guidance should take into consideration usage rates and the criticality of each asset in order to determine the appropriate quantities needed for post operations and provide instructions for adjusting asset holdings based on the outcomes of the assessment.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security develop, implement, and distribute guidance to overseas posts on how to develop disposition plans, including emergency destruction plans, for special protective equipment, hazardous materials, and armored vehicles. The guidance should include details on key considerations to make during the planning process, such as determining which stakeholders to involve in the planning process; planning for a variety of evacuation scenarios; considering timelines and resources needed to ship items out of the country; calculating the timelines needed to destroy assets at post; ensuring security personnel have access to all materials, tools, equipment, and vendors needed to execute the plan; identifying the number, type, and location of all assets to be destroyed; and developing trip wires to determine when to abandon efforts to ship assets out of post and instead pursue emergency destruction procedures. If available, the guidance should also include best practices from disposition plans developed by other posts.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security revise its emergency destruction procedures to describe all acceptable methods to destroy special protective equipment, including methods that can be employed in a limited evacuation timeframe, as well as the equipment and time needed to execute each step. The Bureau of Diplomatic Security should then distribute the updated guidance to all overseas posts.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security revise its armored vehicle disposal procedures to better guide Department of State personnel on how to efficiently disable or destroy armored vehicles in an exigent evacuation scenario. These procedures should include details on the estimated time needed to complete each required step, which steps should be prioritized over others, and which steps may be skipped given limited time and resources. The procedures should also include guidance and visual aids applicable to all models of Department of State armored vehicles maintained worldwide.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, in coordination with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, define and implement a requirement in the Foreign Affairs Manual, that, in the event of a suspension of operations, a comprehensive reconciliation of post-assigned special protective equipment and armored vehicles must be conducted. The requirement should define who is responsible for conducting the reconciliation; define the time period following the suspension of operations in which the reconciliation should be completed; address the need to collect, analyze, and follow up on all available data about the status of a post's special protective equipment and armored vehicles; and, if applicable, include a means to facilitate their return to the Defensive Equipment and Armored Vehicle Division.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security develop and implement detailed guidance for overseas posts on how to establish and maintain records on the status of special protective equipment and armored vehicles assigned to post following a post's suspension of operations, including guidance on the types of information to record, how frequently and under what circumstances records should be updated, and options for using remotely accessible backup records.