Pentagon report slams oversight of warzone vehicle

A new report criticizes how the U.S. military kept tabs on the maintenance of mine-reistant vehicles, considered life-saving transportation in the warzones of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Defense Department Inspector General said the military failed to adequately administer two maintenance contracts worth $193-million and $285-milion.

“The officials inappropriately allowed the contractor to perform inherently governmental functions, such as disciplining DoD employees, and to have organizational conflicts of interest, such as helping prepare requirements for the follow-on contract that the contractor bid on and won,” the report, made public Monday, said.

And the Inspector General said officials failed to pay attention to legal requirements and gave the contractor no incentive to save the government money.

“Only one Government employee was assigned overseas to the task of overseeing a multimillion dollar contract in three different foreign countries,” the report said. “This greatly increased the risk for potential waste or abuse on the contract.”