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What the Wartime Contracting Commission got wrong

Stan Soloway is the former deputy undersecretary of defense.

Federal News Network Staff

September 1, 2011 5:11 pm

1 min read

wfedstaff | June 4, 2015 10:39 am

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By Jolie Lee
Federal News Radio

The Commission on Wartime Contracting cited over-reliance on contractors as part of the reason for tens of billions of dollars in mismanaged contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the commission’s conclusion is “simplistic” and ignores the reality of operating in a warzone, said one former Defense Department official.

The security needs were so high that DoD “really had not choice” but to rely on contractors, said Stan Soloway, CEO of the Professional Services Council and the former deputy undersecretary of defense.

How DoD managed those contractors were not perfect, but the bigger underlying issue is the infrastructure to support those contractors, Soloway said. These changes, for example, would be the number and capabilities of acquisition officials and the duration of their time in theater.

“By focusing on, ‘We have way too many contractors,’ you detract from the real core question: What is my need in theater? What’s the mission? And how do I best manage and over the mission?” Soloway said.

In war, some factors are controllable and others are not. “I don’t think the commission made that distinction clear enough to drive a good discussion,” Soloway said.

The commission released its final report on Wednesday, finding lax oversight had led to at least $31 billion and as much as $60 billion in contracting waste in the last decade.