Investigators question body armor tests

[unhappycamper]

Inspector General audit
Contracting and procurement examined.


Investigators question body armor tests
By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Apr 2, 2008 18:07:15 EDT

The Army failed to adequately document testing of hundreds of thousands of soldier body armor components the service bought between 2004 and 2006, according to a Defense Department Inspector General audit.

The March 31 draft report on DoD procurement policy for body armor states that specific information concerning testing of “first articles,” or initial production samples, was not included in 13 of 28 Army contracts reviewed for the DoD audit. In addition, the report states that the contracting files of 11 of 28 Army contracts did not show why the procurement decisions were made. Such documentation is required by Federal Acquisition Regulations, the audit states.

“As a result, DoD has no assurance that first articles produced under 13 of the 28 contracts and orders reviewed met the required standards, or that 11 of the 28 contracts were awarded based on informed procurement decisions,” the audit report states.

The Army took issue with the audit’s findings in an April 2 release.

The service maintains that it is in “full compliance” with federal regulations and current policy when it comes to buying body armor, Army spokesman Paul Boyce said in the release.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/army_armor_040208w/