THE FIRST REPORT IN 1970 COVERED THE FINANCIAL STATUS AND DEFENSE DEPARTMENT (DOD) PROCEDURES IN ACQUIRING MAJOR WEAPON SYSTEMS. FOR THE REPORT, DOD HAD TO ESTABLISH A FILE FOR IDENTIFYING INFORMATION ON THE NUMBER OF SYSTEMS. THUS, THE FIRST REPORT COVERED 116 MAJOR SYSTEMS, WHOSE ESTIMATED COSTS AT COMPLETION WERE $153 BILLION. THE REPORT ALSO SHOWED THAT 45 SELECTED MAJOR SYSTEMS WERE BEING ESTIMATED AT COMPLETION COSTS OF $111 BILLION, A FIGURE THAT WAS $15 BILLION GREATER THAN CORRESPONDING DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF $96 BILLION. THE FIRST REPORT ON CIVILIAN AGENCIES' MAJOR PROJECTS IN 1975 SHOWED A $57 BILLION OVERRUN FOR 269 CIVILIAN SYSTEMS, WHOSE ESTIMATED COMPLETION COSTS TOTALED $132 BILLION. NEXT, THE GAO MERGED DEFENSE AND CIVIL ACQUISITION REPORTS, ANALYZING THE COST GROWTH OF SELECTED SYSTEMS BASED ON CHANGES IN QUANTITIES, ENGINEERING, SUPPORT, SCHEDULE, ECONOMIC, ESTIMATING, OR OTHER FACTORS. THE LATEST GAO STATUS REPORT ISSUED IN 1978 COVERED 808 SYSTEMS. ESTIMATED COMPLETION COSTS INCREASED FOR $452 BILLION (FOR 753 SYSTEMS) TO $482 BILLION FOR THE 808 SYSTEMS. COST GROWTH INCREASED FROM $176 TO $201 BILLION. THE DEPARTMENTS OF THE ARMY, NAVY, AND AIR FORCE ACCOUNTED FOR $250 MILLION OF PROGRAM COSTS AND COST GROWTH OF $85 BILLION FOR 147 SYSTEMS. ESTIMATED COSTS AT COMPLETION OF $232 BILLION FOR 27 CIVILIAN DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES, INCLUDING THE CIVIL WORKS OF THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, REPRESENTED A COST GROWTH OF $116 BILLION FOR 661 MAJOR SYSTEMS. EACH YEAR SINCE ITS INITIAL PUBLICATION, THE REPORT HAS RECEIVED INCREASING ATTENTION, BEING DISTRIBUTED TO A WIDER AUDIENCE OF CONGRESSIONAL READERS, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. THUS THE REPORT IS HELPING TO BRING TO THE SURFACE CRITICAL QUESTIONS OF PUBLIC POLICY. SEVEN NOTES AND FOUR STUDY QUESTIONS ARE PROVIDED.