National Journal Daily - Ayotte Says State Department Unequipped for Iraq Work

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By Kevin Baron

The Defense Department is ready to hand off its enormous Iraq contracting mission to the State Department next year, when all U.S. troops are scheduled to pull out of the war zone, Pentagon officials told a concerned group of senators on Wednesday.

"I think today we are in decent shape; we are ready to transition to State," said Frank Kendall, acting Defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics, before the Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support.

But after reports surfaced over the weekend that troops might pull out even sooner, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., the panel's ranking member, said such a withdrawal "will almost certainly invite a new and dangerous round of problems related to contracting."

The State Department, Ayotte said, cannot handle the size and scope of the contracting mission at the largest U.S. embassy in the world and other locations.

"I think there is huge risk [in Iraq]," Ayotte said. "...I remain deeply concerned that we are going to ask these civilians to undertake what is essentially a military function."

On Tuesday, Ayotte, subcommittee Chairwoman Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., asked the Government Accountability Office to examine the Pentagon's progress in implementing more than 80 reform recommendations of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, released less than two months ago.

"We need to implement the appropriate reforms without delay-with a real sense of urgency," Ayotte said.

Kendall said the Defense Department is working through the reforms with few objections.

But Dov Zakheim, one of the eight commissioners, said trying to get Defense, State, and other agencies to implement their final recommendations has been "like herding icebergs."

The commission's final report in August surprised nobody when it concluded the U.S. "lacks the acquisition personnel and structures needed to manage and oversee an unprecedentedly large contractor force."

Three earlier reports this year contained similar warnings. With the end of the Iraq War looming, roughly 17,000 civilian contractors will assume work that is largely performed by military personnel-an unprecedented shift.

"I'm sure there will be problems," Kendall conceded. "There have to be, with this transition. The State Department has never done anything this big."

But Kendall said the work is essentially basic base operations, with the majority of contractors being private security personnel acting as a "static" security forces.

Lt. Gen. Brooks Bash, Joint Staff director for logistics, generally agreed the Pentagon was on track with the reforms. Both officials rejected the commission's recommendation to create a new directorate in the Joint Staff for Defense contracting. Nor does the Pentagon need new authority from Congress to implement the commission's reforms, they said.

Zakheim said signs of change are encouraging, but he remains unconvinced. "We're not alone in our concern. The GAO has had Defense contract management on its high-risk list since 1992. So this is going on for 20 years."

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