The Army has awarded contracts worth nearly $733 million to hire contract security guards at 57 domestic Army installations because there is a shortage of personnel due to overseas campaigns, but relying on sole-source contracts to do so has been very costly, the Government Accountability Office has said.
It said the Army’s guard program requires greater oversight and a reassessment of the acquisition approach. It has devoted twice as many contract dollars — nearly $495 million — to its sole-source contracts than to its competed contracts and has placed contract security guards at 46 out of 57 installations through sole sourcing, according to GAO-06-284.
It said that during the initial planning phase, the Army worked with a contractor who had not performed guard services before to refine the contract performance work statement, and called the Army’s screening procedure for guards inadequate.
For example, at two installations, 89 guards with criminal records — some involving assault and other felonies — were put to work, GAO said.
It said the Army has given its contractors the responsibility to conduct most of the training of contract guards, but that it cannot verify whether training is actually taking place or being conducted according to approved criteria.
At three installations, a contractor has certified guards before training had been completed, and at one installation where contractor personnel had falsified training records, the Army subsequently paid the contractor over $7,000 to re-qualify the guards, the report said.
Further, it said that the Army has paid out over $18 million in award fees, but that the fees are based only on compliance with basic contractual requirements, not for the kind of above-and-beyond performance a bonus should be used for.
