SIGAR

Arnold Fields, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, failed to convince his congressional critics that he’s qualified to handle his watchdog job.

Ret. Major General Arnold Fields has submitted his resignation, the White House announced Monday.

The watchdog overseeing contract spending in Afghanistan said the amount of waste and fraud is “significant” in that country. “Contingency contracting is an area that is susceptible to waste, fraud and abuse, more so, certainly, than domestic government contracting,” said Steven Trent, acting Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, in an interview with The Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp.

A bipartisan group of senators has written to top Army officials to express concern about delays in the suspension and debarment process that leave the service open to contracting waste and fraud. In a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno, the senators questioned “significant time lapses” between referrals for suspension and actual debarment of contractors in Afghanistan.

In his final report to Congress, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen’s conclusion was all too clear: Since the invasion a decade ago this month, the U.S. has spent too much money in Iraq for too few results.

The DoD Special Missions Wing in Afghanistan does not have adequate personnel to man its existing and planned aircraft fleet, according to an audit from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The air wing only has one fourth of the recruits needed to achieve full strength to be able to handle 48 newly purchased aircraft.

Corruption and instability in Afghanistan threaten to derail billions of dollars of U.S. aid. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko recounts the problems in a new report to Congress. His team investigated $31 billion worth of programs and projects during the first three months of this year. Sopko told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp some of the mistakes discovered through the report.

Across the federal government, the officials who run hotline programs in agency inspector general offices say they’re finding ways to cut their backlogs of incoming cases and get vital information into the hands of investigators more quickly. In part, it’s because those officials are communicating with one another like never before.

On this week’s On DoD, John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, says the role of an IG is to effectuate change. In his words, “If it’s worth publishing, it’s worth publicizing.”

The Air Force spent nearly half a billion dollars on airplanes, only to turn them into scrap metal. Now, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction is wondering why. The planes were Italian-made transports intended for use by the Afghan Air Force. But the Afghans couldn’t maintain the planes and the program ended after they’d only flow for a few hours. Deputy Inspector General Gene Aloise joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with details.