The Government Accountability Office has called on agencies to address legacy information technology systems that need to be modernized or replaced.

Approximately 5,233 of 7,000 government IT investments are spent on operations and maintenance activities while development and modernization efforts saw a $7.3 billion decline through fiscal years 2010 to 2017, GAO said in a report published Wednesday.

The agency added many IT O&M investments that agency chief information officers identified as moderate to high risk were not reviewed by agencies as required.

The report also called on the Office of Management and Budget to finish its draft guidance that will require agencies to identify and prioritize legacy IT systems that need to be replaced or modernized.

GAO further listed legacy systems that agencies claim to be 30 years or older, such as the Defense Department‘s 53-year-old Strategic Automated Command and Control System that runs on a 1970s IBM Series/1 Computer and uses 8-inch floppy disks.

GAO assessed 26 agencies’ IT O&M spending for fiscal years 2010 through 2017, oversight of at-risk legacy investments, the age and obsolescence of federal IT systems as well as OMB data.

A U.S. Navy official has said the service branch faces a budget shortfall of $848 million in its maintenance and operations funds that could potentially delay the deployment of some ships, Defense News reported Thursday.

Christopher P. Cavas writes the service branch plans to postpone overhaul work on one submarine and four surface ships from fiscal year 2016’s fourth quarter into the first quarter of FY 2017 in an effort to curb spending in FY 2016.

The unidentified Navy official told Defense News that the move to push overhaul work on those ships into the next fiscal year will increase the required budget for such work by approximately $473 million and result in additional scheduling problems in FY 2017.

Other measures that the service branch plans to take to limit spending in 2016 include restrictions on the flying hours of the Carrier Air Wing 1 and deferrals in other contracts as well as in continuous maintenance for the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, America amphibious ready group and Makin Island amphibious assault ship, Cavas reports.

According to the report, the service branch’s decision to impose a one-month extension on the deployment of the Harry S. Truman carrier battle group will require $91 million in additional operations budget.

Several lawmakers and consumer advocacy groups have called on Congress to introduce a bill that would allow the Central States Pension Fund to receive financial assistance from the federal government, the Washington Post reported Monday.

Jonnelle Marte writes the multi-employer retirement benefits program is out of strategies to avoid a looming insolvency.

“At this time, only government funding, either directly to our Pension Fund or through the [Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.], will prevent Central States participants from losing their benefits entirely,” Fund Director Thomas Nyhan was quoted as saying by The Post.

The report said PBGC, which serves as a safety net for private-sector pension plans, has also faced long-standing financial challenges.

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) to help address the country’s pension crisis before the congressional summer break.

The U.S. Army has begun to transition its civilian staff into the new Defense Performance Management and Appraisal Program for Defense Department employees.

The service branch said Wednesday it has transitioned and trained 3,100 Civilian Human Resources Agency staff into the new system and will continue implementation work for more than 200,000 civilians until June 2018.

The new program has a rating period that will run from April 1 to March 31 of the following year and employees who worked under an approved performance plan for a minimum of 90 calendar days will receive a rating based on a three-level pattern, the Army noted.

The ratings are Level 5 for “outstanding,” Level 3 for “fully successful” and Level 1 for “unacceptable,” the service branch added.

Military and civilian supervisors are required to complete a minimum of three formal documented performance discussions after every rating period with plans for employee performance and development as well as feedback and evaluation on employee performance.

Supervisors will also facilitate and document performance management activities through an automated appraisal tool or a hard copy form for those who do not have computer access, the Army noted.

A fleet of ships including the Nimitz-class carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower that will sail to the Middle East to support airstrikes against the Islamic State group will be using second-hand parts from other operational units, Military.com reported Thursday.

Hope Hodge Seck writes U.S. Navy operational commanders disclosed this at a House subcommittee hearing as they discussed the current readiness status of service ships and aircraft as a result of reduced maintenance funding and sequestration.

Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, has said the command and U.S. Pacific Fleet have a maintenance and operations budget shortfall of $848 million.

Capt. Scott Robertson, USS Normandy commander, has added that 13 mission-essential parts were “cannibalized” from the guided-missile cruiser to support the Eisenhower carrier strike group deployment.

“If a part fails on a unit that’s operational, we look in the supply system, and the supply system says either there no parts available at all or parts are not going to be available for a few months,” said Capt. Gregory McRae, Submarine Squadron 6 commander.

He noted that parts are being salvaged from the submarine force at a rate of 1.5 per day to help fund current operations, the report said.

“Accepting these risks means accepting less readiness across the whole of the Navy,” Davidson added.