Pentagon's 2nd Audit Has Been Completed

The Pentagon's audit continues to churn through the department's inventory. (U.S. Army photo by Jason W. Edwards)

Bloomberg: Pentagon Progress in New Audit Undercut by Worsening Shortfalls

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Defense Department said its second consecutive financial audit documented incremental progress tracking $2.9 trillion in assets and correcting hundreds of serious deficiencies, but the department’s watchdog said there’s still too little information about how taxpayer money is spent.

Like last year, the latest review of the Pentagon’s books cost nearly $1 billion, including $500 million for remediation of existing deficiencies, $250 million for setting up the infrastructure to conduct audits and $195 million in auditor fees. More than 1,400 auditors were deployed on the project to track spending on everything from F-35 jet parts to Navy real property, commissary operations

More than 1,400 auditors were deployed on the project to track spending on everything from F-35 jet parts to Navy real property, commissary operations and Army pay operations.

The audit founds no evidence of fraud or abuse and in many cases documented that serious deficiencies uncovered last year have been remedied, Pentagon officials said.

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Update #1: The Pentagon completed its second audit. What did it find? (Defense News)
Update #2: Pentagon gets failing grade in its second audit (Reuters)

WNU Editor: This is what is being audited .... The Department of Defense has 3 million employees in 160 countries at more than 4,500 sites on 30 million acres of land.

The Pentagon's Accounting Practices Will Fail An Audit

Eric Pianin, Fiscal Times: Pentagon’s Sloppy Bookkeeping Means $6.5 Trillion Can’t Pass an Audit

The Defense Department over the years has been notorious for its lax accounting practices. The Pentagon has never completed an audit of how they actually spend the trillions of dollars on wars, equipment, personnel, housing, healthcare and procurements.

An increasingly impatient Congress has demanded that the Army achieve “audit readiness” for the first time by Sept. 30, 2017, so that lawmakers can get a better handle on military spending. But Pentagon watchdogs think that may be mission impossible, and for good reason.

A Department of Defense inspector general’s report released last week offered a jaw-dropping insight into just how bad the military’s auditing system is.

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WNU Editor: $6.5 trillion?!?!?!

Why Is The Pentagon's War Budget Increasing While U.S. Troops Deployed To War-Zones Is Decreasing

Wikipedia

Reuters: How Pentagon war fund became a budget buster Washington can't resist

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. troops deployed in battle zones is at its lowest level since before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Still, Congress has authorized a 38 percent increase in the war budget over last year.

The contradiction is the legacy of an emergency war fund, started in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, that has become a favorite Washington way to sidestep the impact of fiscal constraints on military spending.

The Overseas Contingency Operations account, or OCO, has been tapped to fund tens of billions of dollars in programs with questionable links, or none, to wars, according to current and former U.S. officials, analysts and budget documents.

WNU Editor: So much for budget discipline.

The Pentagon May Close The Publication 'Stars And Stripes'

Command Sgt. Maj. John Sparks, delivers copies of Stars and Stripes to U.S. Marines from 2nd Platoon, 3-2 India Company. The Marines are part of Task Force Tarawa, deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Operation Iraqi Freedom is the multi-national coalition effort to liberate the Iraqi people, eliminate Iraqi's weapons of mass destruction and end the regime of Saddam Hussein Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo by 1st Sgt. David K. Dismukes. Wikipedia

Stars And Stripes Forever? Pentagon May Fold Historic Newspaper -- FOX News

Stars and Stripes — the venerable military publication that has chronicled the heroism of America's fighting men and women since the Civil War — could be on the budget-strapped Pentagon's chopping block.

The Department of Defense, which subsidizes the newspaper to the tune of $7.4 million per year, is considering a range of spending cuts that could also affect the Pentagon Channel and some programming at the American Forces Network. But word that it could shutter a proud paper read by generations of soldiers left at least one former military man disappointed.

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Update: Cuts to AFN, closing Stars and Stripes on Pentagon budget table -- Stars and Stripes

My Comment: I read the Stars and Stripes (online version) everyday. It first started during the American Civil War .... it's closure will certainly be a loss.

More Money Requested For Afghan Combat Operations

U.S. Marine vehicles leave a mortar range near Camp Shorabak in Afghanistan's Helmand province, May 4, 2013. The Marines provided security for the Regional Corps Battalion School instructors who trained Afghan soldiers on the 60mm mortar system. The Marines are assigned to 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 7. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Ezekiel R. Kitandwe

Pentagon Requests $79.4 Billion For Combat Operations Stars And Stripes

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon on Friday sent two budget items to Congress – one to provide funding for combat operations next year, and another to limit the sting of sequestration this year.

The Defense Department is asking for $79.4 billion for its overseas contingency operations, or OCO, budget in 2014. The department did not include the OCO request with the $526.6 billion Pentagon base budget request submitted in April, saying that continuing deliberations over troop levels in Afghanistan made the spending picture unclear.

Troop numbers in Afghanistan will decline markedly during fiscal 2014, which starts Oct. 1. The Obama administration has said it would remove just over half the current number of troops before stabilizing the level at about 34,000 by February. The drawdown is expected to continue after Afghan elections are held in April, during which U.S. troops will assist with security.

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More News On Funding Requests For Afghan Operations

Pentagon Requests Nearly $80B for Afghanistan War -- Defense News/AFP
Pentagon Said to Seek $80 Billion for War Amid Withdrawal -- Bloomberg
Obama seeks to cut Afghan war spending by 10 pct -- Reuters
Pentagon officials ask Congress to shift $9.6B -- The Hill

My Comment: For a war that is "winding down" .... if this budget request is accepted (and my guess is that it will be approved), the Afghan war will be costing US taxpayer approximately $200 million per day. This total does not included long term health/medical/debt/etc. expenses.

Is The Pentagon Budget Being Increased Or Decreased?

Pentagon Budget Multiplies As Security Threat List Grows -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — Despite calls on Capitol Hill for major defense budget cuts, the Pentagon next week will unveil the largest budget in its history — driven by an expanding list of what defines national security.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said his proposed $553 billion budget "represents, in my view, the minimum level of defense spending that is necessary, given the complex and unpredictable array of security challenges the United States faces around the globe."

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More News On The Pentagon Budget

Amidst talks of budget cuts, Pentagon pushing for more money -- CNN
Obama's Pentagon cuts not what they seem -- CNN
DoD to ‘Boost’ Space Spending? -- Executive Gov
Missile Defense Interceptor Gets $1.7 Billion U.S. Budget Boost -- Bloomberg
Pentagon Stymied in Efforts to Ax Airborne Laser -- Global Security Newswire
2012 Defense Budget Marks a Shift to Conventional Weaponry -- National Defense
Decoding the Defense Budget -- CDI
What Defense should expect in FY 2012 budget -- Federal News Radio
DoD Fiscal 2012 Budget Proposal Briefings Announced -- Military Spot
Pentagon budget relies heavily on anticipated savings -- NextGov
Threatening a sacred cow -- The Economist
The GOP's defense budget mystery -- George Will, Washington Post
Guest Blogger Lt Col Todd Copeland: Missions Won’t Change; Budgets Shouldn’t Either -- Heritage Foundation

Pentagon Laying The Groundwork For Defense Cuts

Momentum Builds For Defense-Spending Cuts -- Foreign Policy

For the first time since 2001, there is real and building momentum to include caps or even reductions in defense spending as part of the bipartisan drive to address the United States' runaway deficits.

Defense spending, which has more than doubled since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, has always been the third rail of congressional funding debates. After Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last year that "the spigot of defense funding opened by 9/11 is closing," there was widespread skepticism in Washington that either party would take up the cause.

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More News On U.S. The U.S. Defense Budget

Panel: Pentagon should freeze hiring, slash management -- Government Executive
Rethinking the Defense Budget…Yet Again -- Heritage Foundation
U.S. War-Bill Delay Imperils Civilian Salaries, Ops -- Defense News
Pentagon looking for supplemental funds -- UPI
Troubles loom for some military pay -- Government Executive
Absent Supplemental, Pentagon Furloughs Begin Next Month -- DoD Buzz
Contractors aim to trim the fat -- Politico
Joint Strike Fighter's GE jet engine: We can't afford it -- L.A. Times

Some More Pentagon Waste To Read About

Feds Run Off Track With Pentagon Transit Perk -- Washington Times

Misused aid gives more than free ride.

Federal officials failed to keep track of how they doled out millions of dollars in transit benefits paid for Washington-area Pentagon employees to get to and from work, resulting in overpayments, double dipping and questionable public transit fares, a recent Pentagon review has found.

The increasingly generous subsidy, expected to cost about $60 million this year, pays workers to take mass transit or join van pools to help unclog the notoriously traffic-snarled roadways in and around the nation's capital.

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My Comment: For bureaucrats and government employees .... if it is not their money, who cares. If it is money that is given to you .... the more the merrier.

Many Pentagon Arms Programs Are A Mess

Ashton Carter, Pentagon acquisition, technology and logistics chief, said he wants a dialogue with U.S. defense firms. (ROB CURTIS / STAFF)

Pentagon Says Many Arms Programs Not Performing -- Reuters

* Pentagon needs earlier tip-off of problems

WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - Ashton Carter, the Pentagon's top acquisition official, said on Monday that many U.S. weapons programs were not performing as expected, and that he planned to use more independent cost estimates and step up oversight to identify problems sooner.

Carter described the Pentagon's recent structuring of the Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jet program in detail, saying plans to lengthen the development program and move more gradually into production put the program on a more realistic footing for success.

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My Comment: Tell me something that I do not know.

Update: This is something new.

Defense Last In WH Science Goals

From DoD Buzz:

The Obama administration’s budget guidance for 2011 makes clear that basic research spending will stay flat in most areas or decline, including at the Pentagon.

Money will first go to research that can “drive economic recovery, job creation, and economic growth,” says the guidance issued in an Aug. 4 memo by White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag. The administration also makes clear that since they expect little new money for science and technology funding then government agencies must move dollars to what it calls four “practical challenges.”

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My Comment: Many of our greatest technological and engineering accomplishments have come from the labs of Darpa and other defense related laboratories. So much for the campaign rhetoric that the sciences will benefit from an Obama administration. In fact .... it appears that it is the science that conforms to the political agenda of the White House that will now get the funding.

Pentagon Budget: Big Cuts Are Expected

Senator: Expect Painful Cuts In Pentagon Budget -- AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate defense committee chairman says Pentagon budget will include large, painful cuts. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said Tuesday that major program cuts will not be pushed off until the 2011 budget, but will be included when Defense Secretary Robert Gates sends his spending plan to the president later this month.

Levin's comments confirmed what many contractors and military leaders have expected, but he offered no details on which programs may be axed. He said Pentagon officials have indicated they will not be able to submit the much-anticipated spending plan by April 21, as initially hoped.

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More News On The Incoming Pentagon Budget

Pentagon’s Gates Might Detail Weapons Cuts Early -- Wall Street Journal
Senator says Defense chief will reveal budget cuts ahead of Obama -- Government Executive
Defense budget plan could be pushed to May -- Federal Times
Deep cuts, cancellation of Future Combat Systems on the table -- Nextgov
Arms Development Costs Soar -- Washington Post
$296 Billion in Overruns in U.S. Weapons Programs -- New York Times
GAO: Weapons cost overruns rising -- UPI
Nearly 7 in 10 major U.S. arms programs over budget -- Reuters
Weapons programs over budget, behind schedule: audit -- AFP

Nearly 7 In 10 Major U.S. Arms Programs Over Budget

From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 70 percent of the Pentagon's 96 major weapons-buying programs were over budget in 2008 for combined cost growth of $296 billion above original estimates, congressional auditors said in an annual report released on Monday.

The total estimated development cost for 10 of the largest acquisition programs, commanding about half the overall arms- purchasing dollars in the portfolio, has shot up 32 percent from initial estimates, from about $134 billion to more than $177 billion, the Government Accountability Office said.

The two largest programs -- Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and the Boeing Co-led Future Combat Systems Army modernization -- "still represent significant cost risk moving forward" and will dominate the portfolio for years, the survey said.

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More News On Budget Over Spending

Weapons programs over budget, behind schedule: audit -- AFP
GAO: Weapons programs remain far over budget -- AP
Harvard defense expert aims to fight Pentagon cost overruns -- Reuters
Obama's Pick for Weapons Czar Will Target Cost Overruns -- Wall Street Journal
Pick to Oversee Pentagon Acquisitions Targets Costly Weapons Programs -- Washington Post

Pentagon Budget War About To Go From Cold To Hot?

From The Danger Room:

For months, the Defense Secretary has been in an all-but-open war with a large chunk of the military-industrial establishment. They want their high-end weaponry, to deter a war with Russia or China tomorrow; he wants gear that can help fight the wars we're in today.

So far, these skirmishes have been largely rhetorical -- there haven't been too many dramatic changes in the Pentagon budget. But now, Gates' allies are signaling that real cash is about to put up for grabs; diamond-encrusted items like the F-22 stealth fighter could see their production lines cut short.

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My Comment: I can see the fight now .... Robert Gates and the White House on one side .... the Pentagon, Congress, and contractors on the other. I will bet on the Pentagon and Congress winning.