Report: Army needs 1,400 more contractors

[unhappycamper]

Report: Army needs 1,400 more contractors
By Richard Lardner and Lolita C. Baldor - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 1, 2007 6:29:10 EDT

The demands of supplying soldiers in combat require an additional 1,400 military and civilian personnel with the authority to sign contracts, a new report finds.

U.S. officials familiar with the report, which was set to be released Thursday, did not say how much the additional personnel would cost. The Army’s contracting work force now has just over 10,000 people.

The officials told The Associated Press that the report also calls for creating general officer positions within the Army’s contracting work force — a move to attract talented men and women to a field most would otherwise avoid because of dim prospects for career advancement. Officials described the report on condition of anonymity because it has not been released.

An Army contracting fraud scandal has generated more than 80 criminal investigations. However, higher numbers, better quality and more clout within the Army’s contracting ranks are expected to reduce opportunities for fraud, waste and abuse as tens of billions of dollars continue to be spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the officials said.

The panel chaired by former Pentagon acquisition chief Jacques Gansler also recommends giving the Defense Contract Management Agency several hundred more personnel to exercise greater oversight of contracts awarded overseas.

Established in August by Army Secretary Pete Geren, the Gansler panel was given a broad mandate to examine how the military branch acquires the gear and services it needs each year to operate.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_contracting_071101/