The Darleen Druyun Debacle: Procurement, Power, and Corruption
Abstract
The U.S. government contracting system has seen its share of corruption dating back to the nation's inception. "The farmers were probably ripping off the Patriots as they marched off to battle." As dramatic as the World War II defense scandals that first thrust Truman onto the national stage, perhaps the apex of corruption in government contracting in the modern age was reached in the early 1980s, resulting in Operation III Wind, the largest procurement fraud investigation in U.S. history. That investigation, designed to put an end to the large-scale corruption in government contracting, led to the conviction of ninety companies and individuals. Many of these convicted contractors were subsequently debarred from government contracting. Operation III Wind went a long way towards cleaning up the corruption in government contracting. But since no system is perfect, and individuals may stray, as the government deviated from the strict discipline of full and open contracting, fears increased that corruption may return. Even with this foresight, the government procurement community was nevertheless shocked to learn that Darleen Druyun, a high-ranking acquisition official, recently admitted in court to illegally favoring Boeing Company (Boeing) on a number of Air Force contracts. This news was disturbing not only because of Ms. Druyun's stature in the community, but also because of the extraordinary amount of money involved and the enormous scope of issues that will be generated by a scandal of this magnitude.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA437374
Entities
People
- Jeffrey Branstetter
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology