Army Needs To Improve Property Accountability and Contractor Oversight at Redistribution Property Assistance Team Yards in Afghanistan

摘要

We determined whether Redistribution Property Assistance Teams (RPATs) in Bagram and Kandahar, Afghanistan, have effective procedures in place to process equipment, to include preparation for shipment. The RPATs did not have effective procedures for processing and safeguarding retail and wholesale equipment at the RPAT yards in Bagram and Kandahar, Afghanistan. Specifically, RPAT personnel did not accurately record 6,703 of 18,036, or 37.2 percent, of equipment valued at $157.4 million (see Appendix C) in the accountability systems or maintain sufficient documentation to support items that had been transferred from the RPAT yards in Bagram and Kandahar. This occurred because Army Sustainment Command (ASC), Army Contracting Command- Rock Island (ACC-RI), and the 401st Army Field Support Brigade (AFSB) did not properly oversee contractor performance to ensure adequate establishing and transferring of property accountability at the RPAT yards; ASC did not provide sufficient resources to the RPATs; ACC-RI did not hold the contractor accountable for poor performance; and the 401st AFSB did not implement effective controls over equipment at the RPAT yards. As a result, the Army reported accumulated losses of $586.8 million on 26 open Financial Liability Investigations of Property Loss reports from May 2012 through May 2013 in retail and wholesale equipment at the nine RPAT yards in Afghanistan. Included in these losses were weapons, weapons systems, and other sensitive equipment. We also identified that equipment at the RPAT yards was not being safeguarded in accordance with applicable regulations. When notified of the problem, the Commander, 401st AFSB, promptly acted to fix the identified deficiencies. Among other recommendations, we recommend that ASC, ACC-RI, and the 401st AFSB update the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan and determine whether the contractor is meeting applicable requirements.