Logistics operations at the Pentagon still need work, GAO says
Further actions are needed to continue improvements to the Defense Department's supply distribution operations, according to a report from government auditors.
A Government Accountability Office report (GAO-05-775) released last week found that while progress has been made, the department's ability to improve the system that involves several Defense organizations is obstructed by a lack of accountability and centralized authority. The current plan for making over the department's logistics does not present a clear vision to harmonize future improvement efforts, the report states.
The 40-page report, requested by Reps. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., and Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Texas, leaders of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, found that the U.S. Transportation Command directive to define its new responsibility as the "Distribution Process Owner" was never approved because of a disagreement with the Office of the Secretary of Defense over Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's intent in creating the DPO.
According to the report, the Defense Logistics Executive believed the DPO's role was consultative and the Defense Logistics Executive was the entity responsible for transforming the department's logistics.
GAO investigators have testified on Capitol Hill, according to the report, regarding the Pentagon's tendency to fail to assign performance accountability to specific organizations or persons with the authority to complete the job.
The DPO's responsibilities overlap with other Defense logistics organizations, and the conflicts made GAO unsure of the Pentagon's ability to deal with future conflicts in a timely manner because of logistical challenges.
"Until these issues are resolved, [the Defense Department] has little assurance that warfighters in future conflicts will have more effective and timely logistics support," wrote William M. Solis, director of the GAO's Defense Capabilities and Management section.
GAO said that problems resulting from the department's vast logistical challenges were apparent during the first Gulf War, and recent studies by GAO and other groups have found similar supply problems during the current conflict in Iraq.
The Pentagon has been on the GAO's high-risk list for its supply chain and inventory management since 1990.
In a response to the report, Pentagon officials disagreed with GAO's recommendation that Rumsfeld issue a directive clarifying the responsibilities and authority between the DPO and the DLA, saying it would be unnecessary. Defense officials did agree that improvements could be made in the department's logistics transformation plan and the funding priorities for new communications and tracking systems should be examined by the Army Secretary.
COMMENTS
- I used to work for one of the supply centers under Defense Logistics Agency. They have a lot of problems that impact their ability to provide support to military. 1. They have way to many people doing the work. They have so many layers of management and so many little offices doing just this or that that can't make timely and accurate decisions. A great deal of manpower is wasted in meeting just to try and keep all the little branches and offices working together. It also causes a lot of delays because inter office politics. Why do you need one boss over three or four other bosses? 2. They don't know how to use the technology they have. Nearly everybody has a PC on their desk connected to a mainframe and to the Internet. But, every function has form after form to complete for differnet offcies involved and much of it is redundant. It's wastes huge amounts of time and cause a lot of confusions. 3. They waste a lot of resources maintaining tests labs which are often more for show than test. A lot books are being cooked to make these labs look like they are doing something worthwhile. 4. The upper management doesn't seem to have a clue about what the workers do for a living. They are often generals appointed by the military to serve out there enlistments until they retire and they are usually the people that are being sent their because they aren't so efect at being leaders. It really shows. DLA is a dinosaur and need s to declared extinct. The work could be done a lot better by the military branchs themselves. GovExec.com reader Posted August 22, 2005 4:04 PM
- I am sick of Rumsfeld. Keep the stories coming. GovExec.com reader Posted August 19, 2005 7:27 AM
