GAO Report Recognizes DLA's Excess Property Program Improvements

American Forces Press Service

Aug. 3, 2007 - The Defense Logistics Agency has significantly improved its handling of excess military property, specifically F-14 Tomcat fighter jet parts, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. The Aug. 1 report monitored the agency's excess property sales from September 2006 to March 2007. During that time, GAO identified only two instances in which sensitive items were inadvertently sold outside the Defense Department.

In the first instance, in September, 295 items were released for sale inappropriately.

The second instance, in February 2007, led to 1,385 general hardware-type parts that could be used on F-14s and other aircraft being sold to the public. However, the Defense Logistics Agency identified this mistake immediately and has since recovered all but two of those items, DLA officials said. DLA voluntarily stopped the sale, transfer and donation of all F-14 parts Jan. 26, limiting those items to reuse by the military services only.

Since July 2006, the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, a DLA field activity, has taken several steps to prevent improper sales of military equipment to the public, officials said. Those include changing the way property is grouped in lots for sale, increasing scrutiny of items before sale, tightening controls on the release of property, creating a post-sale review and retrieval process, and designating some items as controlled with strict processes to prevent their sale to the public.

"We've made significant progress in tightening our control of sensitive military equipment, as GAO's recent report confirms," said Army Lt. Gen. Robert T. Dail, director of the Defense Logistics Agency. "We are pleased that GAO's examination reflects the actions we have taken over the past year to ensure national security and proper reutilization and sale of government property. We promise to continue these efforts."

The Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service provides Defense Department units worldwide with critical disposal services for material no longer needed for national defense. DRMS is responsible for property reuse -- including resale, hazardous-property disposal, demilitarization, precious-metals recovery, and recycling-program support.

DLA provides supply support, and technical and logistics services to the U.S. military services and several federal civilian agencies. With headquarters at Fort Belvoir, Va., the agency is the one source for nearly every "consumable" military item, whether for combat readiness, emergency preparedness or day-to-day operations.

(From a Defense Logistics Agency release.)