The Army needs to implement a more effective management and oversight plan for a large equipment maintenance contract at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, GAO has said.
It said the Army is inadequately staffed to conduct oversight of the contract, know as Task Order 1. According to the report, the task order was originally for one year and valued at just over $20 million, but by the end of the base year, the contract’s costs increased to over $100 million. Since then, costs for the first and second options years were $209.6 million and $269.4 million.
As of April 2007, authorized oversight positions were empty. Those included a quality assurance specialist, a property administrator, and two quality assurance inspectors, according to GAO-08-316R. It said the lack of an adequate contract oversight staff is not unique to that location.
Battalion officials said vacant and reduced inspector and analyst positions mean that surveillance is not being performed sufficiently in some areas and the Army is less able to perform data analyses, identify trends in contractor performance, and improve quality processes, according to the report.
It said the Army is considering moving major elements of the contract such as maintenance and supply services to more difficult to manage a cost-plus award-fee structure, but without adequate staff to monitor and accurately document contractor performance, analyze data gathered, and provide input to the award-fee board, it will be difficult for the Army to administer it.
