Contract Oversight in a Contingency Environment: We Bought It, You Own It
Abstract
During my latest deployment in Afghanistan, I led a Joint office consisting of Air Force, Army and Navy personnel (active duty, reservists, Defense Department civilians, and contractors) as NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan s (NTM-A/CSTC-A)) Contract Management Oversight (CMO) Office. The office was stood up in April 2010 to rectify multiple Inspector General (IG) and Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports indicating a lack of hands on oversight for contracts throughout the Afghanistan Theater. We were charged by senior leadership to ensure that contract owners provide effective management and oversight of more than 340 service contracts and 1,000 construction contracts with total value in excess of $5 billion (FY 2011 data). Basically, our main focus was to ensure others were doing their job in evaluating contractor performance and to provide assistance and guidance when and where necessary. Pretty clear, executable guidance right? The Afghan National Security Forces (Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police) rely heavily on contractor support for many equipping/training/sustaining functions such as facility maintenance, construction, combat skills training, life support, and vehicle/weapon procurement and maintenance. While Headquarters NTM-A/CSTC-A provides funding for these efforts through the Afghan Security Forces Fund (ASFF), Regional Command (RCs), Regional Support Commands (RSCs), Headquarters Directorates, and other organizations generate requirements, own the contract, and are responsible for providing stewardship and oversight of contracts funded with ASFF.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA608873
Entities
People
- James E. Thomas
Organizations
- Defense Acquisition University