It’s Hard to Know How Much Defense Is Really Spending on Conferences

The Defense Department has fallen short of compliance with a 2013 law requiring more detailed record-keeping and justifications for spending on employee conferences, a watchdog reported.

The Office of the Deputy Chief Management Officer “did not report accurate or complete costs” in the Pentagon’s fiscal 2013 report on conferences, the inspector general found. “Travel costs for five of eight conferences reviewed were based on estimates that could not be verified to actual costs” because the management office did not require components to maintain a list of travelers for each conference.

In addition, the office “inconsistently reported conferences by including seven events, costing $1.4 million, that did not meet the DoD definition of a conference,” the report said. For example, the office’s report “incorrectly included two military exercises hosted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in fiscal 2013, costing $369,000, and excluded three similar events hosted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The two exercises included in the report did not meet the DoD definition of a conference because they were military exercises.”

At least three conferences, together costing $1.7 million, were not included in the report because the management office used a manual process to compile it, and because Defense Health Agency officials “misunderstood the new requirements” under the 2013 omnibus spending measure and separate Office of Management and Budget directives. “As a result, Congress cannot rely on the DoD Deputy Chief Management Officer’s report to assess DoD’s conference spending,” the watchdog concluded.

Under the 2013 law, agencies must report to their inspector generals on all conferences costing more than $100,000, and must include a description of the event’s purpose, the number of attendees,  travel costs, the costs of food and beverages, and expenses for audio-visual equipment—as well as a description of conference planning procedures.

Sub-agencies that failed to report correctly included the National Guard Bureau, which provided a list of attendees for three of its four conferences that cost $944,000, but could not document who had spent money traveling. “In addition, the NGB misclassified $660,000 in travel costs as conference hosting costs for two of the three conferences,” the report said.

The Defense Intelligence Agency under‑reported total costs for its $119,000 National Security Analysis and Intelligence Summer Seminars conference by $26,000, the report said, but DIA also over‑reported conference hosting costs by $2,000.

The inspector general recommended that the deputy chief management officer require sub-agencies to improve documentation on conference costs and create a review process.

David Tillotson III, who has held the job on an acting basis since May 2014 (it had been vacant since Dave Wennergren left for the private sector in August 2013), agreed with the recommendations.

(Image via Smit / Shutterstock.com)