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May 9, 2019 By AMK

FEMA showed weak mastery of contracts during hurricane response and recovery

Four agencies providing disaster relief following the triple hurricanes and California wildfires of 2017 failed to keep proper records of contracts with suppliers, rendering it impractical for the Government Accountability Office to fully track $5 billion in spending.

GAO’s report released on Wednesday examined 23 sample contracts let after the disasters by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard and the Defense Logistics Agency. Its conclusion: the full extent of contracting related to the 2017 disasters is unknown due to Homeland Security Department’s irregular schedule for closing contracts and inconsistent use of standard contracting codes.

Disaster relief contracts for everything from ready-made meals to tarpaulins can be awarded prospectively—before anyone knows the date of a coming act of God—or after the storm or fire has rendered thousands homeless or living in damaged property.

But among the contracts studied as of June 30, 2018—following a record-setting displacement of 15 percent of the U.S. population from several natural events—GAO reviewed the three-fourths of the obligations that were let by FEMA and the Army engineers and found that the Homeland Security Department violated procedure with early closures of what are called national interest action codes. Those numbered codes, administered by the General Services Administration, allow agencies to track data on contract actions related to national emergencies, and are available on the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation to provide governmentwide insight into response and recovery efforts.

Keep reading article at: https://www.govexec.com/contracting/2019/04/fema-showed-weak-mastery-contracts-during-hurricane-response-and-recovery/156541/

November 10, 2016 By AMK

Pentagon urged to better integrate intel needs in weapons acquisition

Modern U.S. weapons systems, from the F-22 stealth fighter to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, are increasingly designed with intelligence community requirements in mind. But the Defense Department has yet to iron out kinks in the communications chain during the complex acquisition process, a watchdog found.

pentagon-seal The Pentagon has “developed certifications and training for acquisition and intelligence personnel, but it does not have certifications for certain personnel who provide intelligence support to acquisition programs,” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) wrote in a report released on Nov. 1.

A DoD Acquisition Requirement Task Force begun in 2015 has identified the need for, but Defense has not required prioritization of, intelligence mission data, the watchdog found, while the extent of training and certification varies among the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. intelligence authorities.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2016/11/pentagon-urged-better-integrate-intel-needs-weapons-acquisition/132878

August 22, 2016 By AMK

Whistleblowers exposed contractors who sold defective helmets to Pentagon

Two contractors — one private and one government-owned — manufactured defective combat helmets ordered by the Pentagon, costing the government millions, a watchdog said last week.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a summary of two fraud investigations by his office and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, with help from Army personnel, in response to whistleblower allegations made by two employees of Federal Prison Industries.

Helmets 08.2016

The defective products in two models were advanced combat Kevlar helmets used by the Army and lightweight helmets used by the Marines. The probes determined that the deliverables were made with “degraded or unauthorized ballistic materials, [and] used expired paint and unauthorized manufacturing methods.”

Keep reading this article at: http://m.govexec.com/contracting/2016/08/whistleblowers-exposed-contractors-who-sold-defective-helmets-pentagon/130843

August 18, 2016 By AMK

VA blows $300,000 on the wrong TVs

The Veterans Affairs Department spent more than $300,000 on hundreds of TVs that have sat in storage in Detroit for nearly three years because they were the wrong type of television.

VA seal Officials at VA’s Detroit medical center didn’t check ahead of time with the contractor installing the new TVs in patient rooms to ensure they properly fit the project’s design and specifications, according to the department’s inspector general. So, out of the 300 televisions the facility bought in September 2013, 282 of them have been gathering dust the past few years because they were purchased before the department awarded the installation contract.

The screw-up to date has cost VA $311,000, according to the watchdog: $292,492 for the TVs and related equipment and $19,052 for changes to the contract.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2016/08/va-blows-300000-wrong-tvs/130645

February 11, 2015 By AMK

Buying a new Air Force One is complicated

Think it’s tough to buy a new car? Try buying a plane that has all the bells and whistles fit for a president, including some that might not have been invented yet.

The aircraft is the easy part. In this case, it’s a massive, four engine, two-floor Boeing 747-8 from a company that has been churning out aircraft from its Washington State assembly lines for nearly a century. But the must-have equipment needed on the plane that acts as a mobile White House is where things get more complicated.

First, the plane must be able to refuel inflight so, if need be, it could remain airborne indefinitely. A nuclear war is likely the only time this would happen, but Air Force One must be prepared for everything.

But that’s not the hard part. The must-haves include the latest, cutting edge military communications equipment that allow the president to work as if he’s sitting in the Oval Office in Washington. The president must be able to conduct secure video conferences and phone calls, access classified government computer networks and order a nuclear strike.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2015/02/buying-new-air-force-one-complicated/104220/

Four agencies providing disaster relief following the triple hurricanes and California wildfires of 2017 failed to keep proper records of contracts with suppliers, rendering it impractical for the Government Accountability Office to fully track $5 billion in spending.

Two contractors — one private and one government-owned — manufactured defective combat helmets ordered by the Pentagon, costing the government millions, a watchdog said last week.

The Veterans Affairs Department spent more than $300,000 on hundreds of TVs that have sat in storage in Detroit for nearly three years because they were the wrong type of television.

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