Army creates new Contracting Command

[unhappycamper]

Army creates new Contracting Command
By Richard Lardner - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 28, 2008 18:22:53 EST

WASHINGTON — The Army is ordering a major overhaul of the way it buys supplies for troops in combat zones as the number of criminal investigations into wartime contract fraud nears triple figures.

Chief among the moves is the formation of a new contracting command to better manage military purchasing in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, according to a memo written by Army Secretary Pete Geren and obtained by The Associated Press.

To be run by generals, the post will control an enterprise stained by scandal and long unappreciated by other sectors of the Army.

Geren’s one-page memo, dated Jan. 30, directs the Army’s existing contracting agency to be replaced by the new command, which is being designed to have broad authority over the acquisition of items ranging from bottled water to bullets.

The Army Contracting Command will be headed initially by Jeffrey Parsons, a civilian official, an appointment that underscores how few senior Army officers there are with extensive credentials in defense contracting.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_army_contracting_022808/