Gansler Commission

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Dr. Jacques Gansler reported findings of his six-member special commission on 1 November 2007, recommending that the Army hire almost 2,000 additional contracting officers and provide more training to its acquisition workforce. Gansler Report 2007 Presentation.jpg
Dr. Jacques Gansler reported findings of his six-member special commission on 1 November 2007, recommending that the Army hire almost 2,000 additional contracting officers and provide more training to its acquisition workforce.

The Gansler Commission investigated the contingency contracting crisis in 2007, named after its chair, Jacques S. Gansler, a former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. In August, then United States Secretary of the Army, Pete Geren, established the independent Commission on Army Acquisition and Program Management in Expeditionary Operations to review recent operations and provide recommendations. [1] This commission released what became known as the Gansler Report in October 2007. [2] Commission members include David J. Berteau, former principal deputy assistant secretary of defense (resource management & support); retired Gen. Leon Salomon, former commander, Army Materiel Command; retired Gen. David M. Maddox, former commander, U.S. Army Europe; retired Rear Adm. David R. Oliver Jr., former director, Office of Management and Budget, Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraq; and George T. Singley III, former DoD deputy director, research and engineering.

Contents

Contingency Contracting Crisis

Gansler Report

External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg "Urgent Reform Required: Army Expeditionary Contracting, the Report of the Commission on Army Acquisition and Program Management in Expeditionary Operations", hearing of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, December 6, 2007, C-SPAN [8]

Findings

When the Gansler Report was released on 31 October 2007, Dr. Gansler identified three key findings: not enough people, too little training, and an antiquated contracting system. [9] This report did not address any suspected criminal cases being investigated internally within the Army and the Justice Department. Although the media recognized this effort as the broadest examination of the problems to date with potentially the most far-reaching recommendations for fixes, Congressional lawmakers were still concerned that the Army took too long in one of their recommendations, that of creating a special contracting corps, one that Congress authorized a few years prior. [10]

Recommendations

The commission outlined four areas as critical to future success: [9]

  1. Increased stature, quantity and career development for contracting personnel—both military and civilian, particularly for expeditionary operations;
  2. Restructure of the organization and responsibility to facilitate contracting and contract management;
  3. Provide training and tools for overall contracting activities in expeditionary operations; and
  4. Obtain legislative, regulatory, and policy assistance to enable contracting effectiveness, important in expeditionary operations.

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References

  1. ↑ Army News Service (30 August 2007). "Army Fights Contracting Fraud". Department of the Army. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  2. ↑ Commission on Army Acquisition and Program Management in Expeditionary Operations (31 October 2007). "Urgent Reform Required: Army Expeditionary Contracting" (PDF). Department of the Army. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  3. ↑ Simpson, Glenn R. (20 October 2007). "Inside the Greed Zone". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  4. ↑ Dwyer, Jim (19 September 2007). "From Queens to Kuwait, Where a Life Was Ended". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  5. ↑ Schmitt, Eric; Glanz, James (31 August 2007). "U.S. Says Company Bribed Officers for Work in Iraq". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  6. ↑ Thompson, Ginger; Schmitt, Eric (24 September 2007). "Graft in Military Contracts Spread From Base". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  7. ↑ Bennett, John (29 August 2007). "Two investigations aimed at contracting fraud". Army Times. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  8. ↑ "Army Expeditionary Contracting". C-SPAN. December 6, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  9. 1 2 McMahon, Lee; Sheftick, Gary (1 November 2007). "Gansler Commission Cites Systemic Problems in Army Contracting". Army News Release. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  10. ↑ Schmitt, Eric (1 November 2007). "Panel Faults Army's Wartime Contracting". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
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