Report: Army Contracting Personnel Need Help An independent commission is recommending “urgent reform” of the Army’s procurement system, including adding 2,000 more people to award and manage contracts. “The Army has excellent, dedicated people; but they are understaffed, overworked, under-trained, under-supported and, most important, under-valued,” the commission wrote in a report released Nov. 1. Army Secretary Pete Geren ordered the review as a result of dozens of alleged bribery cases in Army contracting shops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. The commission was headed by Jacques Gansler, former undersecretary of defense acquisition, technology and logistics in the Clinton administration. Geren said he will “move out quickly on its recommendations.” The commission found that many contracting personnel were sent to the war theater without adequate training. “It’s a little bit hard when someone hands them a bag of money and says, you know, ‘Manage this.’ A little might fall out,” Gansler said at a Pentagon briefing. The Army acquisition workforce now numbers about 5,800, down from more than 10,000 in 1990, the commission said. During that period the workload – the number of contracts – has increased sevenfold. “First and most important is the people,” Gansler said. In addition to increasing the number of people and improving their training, the commission called for cultural change. It said the Army now treats contracting as a “side issue.” Only 3% of Army contracting personnel are military, compared with 37% in the Air Force. Not a single general is assigned to contracting, meaning there is no one “at the table” to raise procurement issues during high-level planning for military operations, the commission said. Since there is no opportunity for promotion to the highest ranks, procurement is not a popular career path for officers. The commission said special training is needed for “expeditionary contracting,” its term for procurement in wartime. It said Army acquisition personnel are oriented toward major weapons systems that may take many years to develop, while expeditionary contracting requires speed and responsiveness to warfighters’ immediate needs. The Army’s increased reliance on services contractors means its personnel are dealing with more complex requirements, the commission said. “Contracting personnel incorrectly have been characterized as ‘shoppers’ by some both inside and outside of the Army (and, consequently, reduced in both quantity and stature) as opposed to being viewed as true professionals.” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he will pursue the commission’s recommendations not only for the Army, but for all DOD contracting. A first step will be to strengthen the Defense Contract Management Agency, he said. The commission did not examine the allegations of fraud in war contracting. A separate review is looking into that. The Army said there are 83 active criminal investigations involving procurement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.