"It usually takes a crisis to make change," said Jacques Gansler, head
of the panel.

"We have a crisis."

The panel said the massive logistical demands of Iraq and Afghanistan
exposed "key failures" in army contracting.

The value of contracts awarded tripled to well over $100 billion, but
the number of people managing those contracts stayed the same, Martin
reports.

There are currently 160,000 contractors working for the United States
in the war zone but only 75 contract managers, and most of them are
not trained.

"When you go over to Iraq and Kuwait you're going to see that even
about 36 percent of them are certified for those jobs," said Gansler.

Untrained contract managers are one reason there is so much fraud.

"They're not trained to do it," said Gansler.

"They're not used to doing it, and it's a little bit hard when
somebody hands them a bag of money and says manage this - some of it
might fall out."

Untrained or just plain dishonest, the fact is nearly 100 Army
personnel are under criminal investigation, adds Martin.


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Since 2001, provisional offices have sprung up in the Middle East and
Afghanistan to buy items such as bottled water, laundry services,
barracks, food, transportation, and warehouse services.

But in certain places, such as Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, there were too
few qualified people, too little oversight, high staff turnover, and
poor record-keeping.

In the midst of those shortcomings came a huge flow of dollars for the
war, creating an environment ripe for misconduct and inefficiency.


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..................

The Army Criminal Investigation Command already has 83 ongoing
criminal investigations related to wartime contract fraud.

Nearly two dozen military and civilian Army personnel have been
charged or indicted and more than $15 million in confirmed bribes has
changed hands, according to the command.


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.....................

After 2001, when the amount of spending for the wars exploded and
annual defense budgets exceeded $600 billion, the demands on this
undersized, aging work force accelerated and led to the
much-publicized breakdowns.

"This didn't happen overnight," Boshears said.


From CBS News, 11/1/07:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/01/national/main3440529.shtml

Fuel Fraud Latest In Army Contracting Woes

CBS News Exposes Kickback Scheme, As Epidemic Of Wartime Military
Contract Fraud Grows

(CBS/AP)

The delivery of aviation gas to the giant U.S. air base at Bagram in
Afghanistan is the latest case of fraud to hit a contracting system
overwhelmed by war and practically begging to be ripped off, CBS News
national security correspondent David Martin reports exclusively.

So far two former employees of Kellogg, Brown and Root have been
arrested for their part in a scheme worthy of Tony Soprano.

The two KBR men, who worked for the U.S. military at Bagram, forged
receipts for 80 tanker loads trucked in but never delivered, according
to court documents.

The Pentagon paid for the undelivered fuel while the drivers sold it
on the black market.

For their role in the scheme, KBR employees divvyed up an estimated
$800,000 in kick backs, reports Martin.

That's just one of more than 80 criminal cases involving some $15
million in bribes.

_____________________________________________________

Bush wants another $200 billion for what?

Harry