Pentagon Expansion of Acquisition Staff Hurt by Funding Uncertainties
June 21, 2012
The Defense Department's ongoing effort to expand and better train its ranks of acquisition employees has been hindered by shifts in funding and the absence of an overarching strategy, auditors said in a report released Thursday.
A Government Accountability Office review of the $1.8 billion Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund found that the department "has not collected and distributed funds within required time frames, sometimes delaying distribution to components until the following fiscal year."
Congress established the fund in 2008 because of concern that Defense could be overpaying some contractors and needed to recruit a larger army of trained contract managers. But in executing the hiring push, it drew from multiple funding sources.