Shortcomings in DoD planning for contractor use to be probed at
July 12 Wartime Contracting hearing
Special report to Congress on concerns over DoD-to-State
transition for critical functions in Iraq to be unveiled at
hearing
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ARLINGTON, VA, July 8, 2010 – A July 12 hearing by the Commission
on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan will explore why,
nearly a decade into two wars in Southwest Asia that rely on more
than 200,000 contractors, government strategy and planning still
make little provision for contractor support.
The Commission is concerned that the Defense Department’s
Quadrennial Defense Review, Total Force Policy, and other planning
documents pay inadequate attention to contracting and thereby
invite hasty decisions, weak oversight, and wasteful spending when
contingency operations must be launched.
The hearing—"Total Force Policy, the QDR, and Other Defense and
Operational Planning: Why does Planning for Contractors Continue
to Lag?"—is scheduled to run from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on
Monday, July 12, 2010, in Room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office
Building in Washington, DC. Commission Co-Chair Michael Thibault,
former deputy director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, will
preside.
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SPECIAL REPORT TO BE RELEASED
In another matter related to planning for contracting, the
Commission will release its third Special Report to Congress on
Monday. Besides directing the Commission to make interim and final
reports to Congress, the Commission’s authorizing statute allows
it to file “other reports” as it deems appropriate.
Special Report #3 details the Commission’s concern that planning
for the transition of critical functions from the Department of
Defense (DoD) to the Department of State as the U.S. drawdown in
Iraq proceeds is insufficiently advanced, will require State to
employ thousands of new contractors, and carries risks of weak
oversight, unnecessary spending, and damage to U.S. policy
objectives. The functions, many with potential for violent
engagements, include emergency medical evacuations, route
clearance, convoy escort, and explosive-ordnance neutralization.
Copies of the Special Report will be available at the hearing; it
will also be posted on the Commission’s public website,
www.wartimecontracting.gov.
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"Contractor employees have exceeded the numbers of military
personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Thibault said, “and the
military relies on them for base security, dining halls, laundry,
transport, and other vital services. Yet little has been done to
include contractors in DoD’s strategic, operational, and manpower
planning."
Co-Chair Christopher Shays, former chairman and ranking member of
the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign
Affairs, said, “The new Quadrennial Defense Review devotes little
attention to contractor support, and the GAO has found that
contracting is still lightly and inconsistently addressed in
commanders’ operational planning. Unless there’s a real culture
change at DoD, planning for contractor support in military
operations or responses to natural disasters or terrorist attacks
will remain ad hoc, hurried, and wasteful. We need to get this
fixed for the sake of the troops and the taxpayers.”
The witness panel for the hearing comprises four DoD
representatives:
Kathleen Hicks, Ph.D., Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for
Strategy, Plans and Forces. Dr. Hicks is responsible for advising
the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Secretary of
Defense on all matters pertaining to the development of U.S.
national security and defense strategy.
Lieutenant General Kathleen Gainey, Director of Logistics (J4),
Joint Chiefs of Staff. The J4 section integrates logistics
planning and execution in support of joint operations. It advises
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on logistics matters at
the strategic level and for operational needs like supply,
maintenance, health services support, and engineering.
Richard Robbins, Director, Requirements. He reports directly to
the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and
Readiness), which is responsible for Total Force policy and
guidance on manpower management and workforce mix, including
contractors.
Gary Motsek, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
(Program Support). He is responsible for developing and
maintaining a comprehensive policy and program management
framework for governing the joint polices on requirements
definition, contingency program management, and contingency
contract support.
America’s defense interests, objectives, and priorities are laid
out in the National Security Strategy, the National Defense
Strategy, and the National Military Strategy developed by the
President, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs, respectively. The Quadrennial Defense Review and various
guidance documents refine objectives and priorities, and provide
the basis for operational planning. The Commission believes these
documents have at best limited discussion of contractor support of
operations—a conspicuous shortcoming given the limits on U.S.
force structure, the heavy reliance on contractors in Southwest
Asia, and DoD’s reporting to Congress that contractors will likely
play a critical role in future contingency operations.
Congress created the Commission in 2008 (Public Law 110-181) to
examine contingency contracting for reconstruction, logistics, and
security functions, and to recommend improvements. Co-chairs are
Michael Thibault and Christopher Shays; other members are Clark
Kent Ervin, Grant Green, Robert Henke, Katherine Schinasi, Charles
Tiefer, and Dov Zakheim. The Commission website is
www.wartimecontracting.gov.
