High-level DoD action is needed to address long standing problems managing and overseeing contractors supporting deployed forces, GAO has said.
While DoD has taken steps to improve guidance on the use of contractors to support deployed forces, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which is responsible for monitoring and managing the implementation of this guidance, has not allocated adequate organizational resources and accountability to implement it sufficiently, according to GAO-07-145.
It said a number of problems it has reported on in the past continue to pose difficulties for military personnel in deployed locations, such as limited visibility over contractors because information on the number of contractors at deployed locations or the services they provide is not aggregated by any organization within DoD or its components.
As a result, senior leaders and military commanders cannot develop a complete picture of the extent that contractors support their operations, the report said.
For example, it said that when the multi-national force began to develop a base consolidation plan for Iraq, officials ran the risk of over-building or under-building the capacity of the consolidated bases because they were unable to determine how many contractors were already deployed to bases.
