GAO: DoD Must Assess How Efficiently It Uses Service ContractorsFebruary 13, 2009

 

The Pentagon is failing to track and assess its use of contractors and civilian employees, a top official at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) told lawmakers.

The GAO has been recommending since 2006 that the Defense Department conduct such a study, but one has not yet been implemented, according to a report in the Army Times.

Acting Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told a House Appropriations subcommittee on defense this month that contracting decisions were not strategically planned, and instead "resulted from thousands of individual decisions to use contractors to provide specific capabilities."

Defense spending on service contractors for acquisition support, intelligence analysts and security guards has doubled over the past six years but the size of the defense acquisition workforce grew by a meager one percent — insufficient to monitor these contracts, according to the Army Times.

While contractors provide manpower to staff growing needs, an assessment of their use is critical. An overreliance on contractors can create a weak link in missions, Dodaro told lawmakers.

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he would consider setting a deadline for the Pentagon to comply with the GAO recommendation or face withheld funding.