Management

GSA Scandal in Perspective: Darleen Druyun

The Air Force’s next-generation tanker deal has had a long, tortured procurement history. And Darleen Druyun, the former No. 2 acquisition official at the...

Federal News Network Staff

April 17, 2012 8:05 pm

1 min read

The Air Force’s next-generation tanker deal has had a long, tortured procurement history. And Darleen Druyun, the former No. 2 acquisition official at the Air Force, has played no small part in that saga.

Druyun, the former principal deputy undersecretary for acquisition, rose through the Air Force ranks accruing great responsibility and unparalleled authority over the service’s contracts. Druyun met with representatives from contracting giant Boeing in October 2002, to discuss a job offer at the same time the service was considering a $20 billion tanker deal with Boeing. In November, Druyun retired from the Air Force to accept a position with the company.

The deal was approved after Druyun had left. However, she referred to the inflated price she set and the bidding information she shared with Boeing as a “parting gift” to the company after years of improperly favoring it in procurement decisions.

In October 2004, Druyun was sentenced to nine months in prison after pleading guilty to conflict-of-interest charges, admitting she negotiated with Boeing over a job while still employed — and making procurement decisions for — the Air Force.

The Air Force and the Government Accountability Office reviewed the contracts awarded during Druyun’s nearly decade-long tenure as the service’s chief weapons buyer. As part of her plea agreement, Druyun detailed three other specific instances where she had given preference to Boeing, including on a $4 billion contract to modernize electrical systems on the C-130 J aircraft, according to a GovExec report.

The tanker deal eventually fell apart, landing in procurement limbo for nearly 10 years until Boeing won the retooled KC-X deal in fair and open competition in February 2011.

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