Commission on Wartime Contracting probes Army services contracts

The Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan wants to know how the Army is doing in administering services contracts.

UPDATE 4/21: Today I finished up with the Monday morning panel, and featured highlights of the Monday afternoon panel.

Services contracts are now the bulk of the contracting done by the military, and the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan wants to know how the Army is doing in administering them. They called three Pentagon officials and representatives of three contractors to a hearing on Monday to tell them about the progress they’re making. Shay Assad, Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy, Department of Defense; Lt. Gen. William Phillips, principal military deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition Logistics and Technology); and Edward Harrington, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (procurement) were the witnesses on the first panel. The second panel included Terry Raney of CACI and Jay Ward of AECOM.

The Commission’s web site says

“Contracts for logistical support, translation, maintenance, security and other services are estimated to total $80 billion over the past five years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Services contracts account for nearly two-thirds of contracts in Southwest Asia, and are mostly managed by the U.S. Army.

“At the hearing, the Commission voiced concern that the Army still lacks adequate resources for planning, managing, and overseeing services contracts that are critical to the success of military operations. The hearing also probed the issue of contractors’ possibly becoming involved in ‘inherently governmental’ functions while using force or making decisions involving other contractors.”

I played highlights of the morning panel on Tuesday’s show and the beginning of Wednesday’s show; and highlights of the afternoon panel on Wednesday’s show.

Monday morning panel, with Army and Pentagon personnel:

Monday afternoon panel, with leaders from AECOM and CACI:

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