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US defense works to ensure 'every dollar counts'

30 Aug 2010

Source: American Forces Press Service

The US Defense Logistics Agency is taking steps to cut costs and boost efficiency as part of a larger effort to reform the way the Pentagon does business, defense officials said today.

“We recognize that we are asking the U.S. Congress and American people for a lot of money to maintain our national security,” Robert F. Hale, the Defense Department’s comptroller and chief financial officer, told reporters during a teleconference. “We’ve got to make sure every dollar counts.”

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates laid out his plans to reform the way the Pentagon does business and to eliminate duplicative, unnecessary costs. Among his directives, the secretary tasked the services and defense agencies to achieve up to a $100 billion in overhead savings over the next five years.

Joining Hale on the call, Navy Vice Adm. Alan S. Thompson, director of DLA, outlined the steps his agency is taking to comply with Gates’ initiative.

On the information technology front, the agency plans to use a procurement module, called e-procurement, to replace its legacy contract writing capability, Thompson said, and it also plans to merge a number of legacy information technology systems.

An operational evaluation team also is looking to reduce the risk of procurement fraud by seeking potential vulnerabilities and developing risk-mitigation strategies, Thompson noted.

“As a result of the team’s work, we’ve implemented several actions to tighten up our acquisition processes,” he said. To leverage buying power, the agency is consolidating purchases across the agency rather than entering into separate, smaller contracts, the admiral explained.

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