Today's Article
America sorely
needs to improve its
program intended to
rebuild Afghanistan.
needs to improve its
program intended to
rebuild Afghanistan.
The American Spark
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Afghanistan Aid Project In Serious Trouble, Says U.S. Study
By Cliff Montgomery - May 20th, 2009
A May Government Accountability Office report on Afghanistan reveals that the U.S. emergency response
program intended to rebuild the war-torn nation is in trouble, and that urgent action is needed to improve its
basic oversight and coordination.
The American Spark quotes from the report's highlights:
"U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Defense (DOD) and the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) have spent billions of dollars to develop Afghanistan. From fiscal years 2004
to 2008, DOD has reported obligations of about $1 billion for its Commander's Emergency Response Program
(CERP), which enables commanders to respond to urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs. As troop
levels increase, DOD officials expect the program to expand.
"Although DOD has used CERP to fund projects that it believes significantly benefit the Afghan people, it faces
significant challenges in providing adequate management and oversight because of an insufficient number of
trained personnel. GAO has frequently reported that inadequate numbers of management and oversight
personnel hinders DOD's use of contractors in contingency operations.
"GAO’s work also shows that high-performing organizations use data to make informed decisions about current
and future workforce needs. DOD has not conducted an overall workforce assessment to identify how many
personnel are needed to effectively execute CERP.
"Rather, individual commanders determine how many personnel will manage and execute CERP. Personnel at
all levels, including headquarters and unit personnel that GAO interviewed after they returned from Afghanistan or
who were in Afghanistan in November 2008, expressed a need for more personnel to perform CERP program
management and oversight functions.
"Due to a lack of personnel, key duties such as performing headquarters staff assistance visits to help units
improve contracting procedures and visiting sites to monitor project status and contractor performance were
either not performed or inconsistently performed. Per DOD policy, DOD personnel should receive timely and
effective training to enable performance to standard during operations.
"However, key CERP personnel at headquarters, units, and provincial reconstruction teams received little or no
training prior to deployment which commanders believed made it more difficult to properly execute and oversee
the program.
"Also, most personnel responsible for awarding and overseeing CERP contracts valued at $500,000 or less
received little or no training prior to deployment and, once deployed, received a 1-hour briefing, which did not
provide detailed information on the individual's duties.
"As a result, frequent mistakes occurred, such as the omission of key clauses from contracts, which slowed the
project approval process. As GAO has reported in the past, poorly written contracts and statements of work can
increase DOD’s cost risk and could result in payment for projects that do not meet project goals or objectives.
"While mechanisms exist to facilitate coordination, DOD and USAID lack information that would provide greater
visibility on all U.S. government development projects. DOD and USAID generally coordinate projects at the
headquarters and unit level as well as through military-led provincial reconstruction teams which include USAID
representatives.
"In addition, in November 2008, USAID, DOD and the Department of State began participating in an interagency
group composed of senior U.S. government civilians and DOD personnel in Afghanistan to enhance planning
and coordination of development plans and related projects.
"However, complete project information is lacking, because DOD and USAID use different databases. USAID
has been tasked to develop a common database and is coordinating with DOD to do so, but development is in
the early stages and goals and milestones have not been established. Without clear goals and milestones, it is
unclear how progress will be measured or when it will be completed.
"GAO recommends that DOD evaluate workforce needs, ensure adequate staffing, and establish CERP training
requirements, and that DOD and USAID collaborate to create a centralized database of project data, including
milestones for completion. DOD concurred or partially concurred with GAO's recommendations, citing recent
actions taken. GAO believes its recommendations remain valid."
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark e-
newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!
By Cliff Montgomery - May 20th, 2009
A May Government Accountability Office report on Afghanistan reveals that the U.S. emergency response
program intended to rebuild the war-torn nation is in trouble, and that urgent action is needed to improve its
basic oversight and coordination.
The American Spark quotes from the report's highlights:
"U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Defense (DOD) and the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) have spent billions of dollars to develop Afghanistan. From fiscal years 2004
to 2008, DOD has reported obligations of about $1 billion for its Commander's Emergency Response Program
(CERP), which enables commanders to respond to urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs. As troop
levels increase, DOD officials expect the program to expand.
"Although DOD has used CERP to fund projects that it believes significantly benefit the Afghan people, it faces
significant challenges in providing adequate management and oversight because of an insufficient number of
trained personnel. GAO has frequently reported that inadequate numbers of management and oversight
personnel hinders DOD's use of contractors in contingency operations.
"GAO’s work also shows that high-performing organizations use data to make informed decisions about current
and future workforce needs. DOD has not conducted an overall workforce assessment to identify how many
personnel are needed to effectively execute CERP.
"Rather, individual commanders determine how many personnel will manage and execute CERP. Personnel at
all levels, including headquarters and unit personnel that GAO interviewed after they returned from Afghanistan or
who were in Afghanistan in November 2008, expressed a need for more personnel to perform CERP program
management and oversight functions.
"Due to a lack of personnel, key duties such as performing headquarters staff assistance visits to help units
improve contracting procedures and visiting sites to monitor project status and contractor performance were
either not performed or inconsistently performed. Per DOD policy, DOD personnel should receive timely and
effective training to enable performance to standard during operations.
"However, key CERP personnel at headquarters, units, and provincial reconstruction teams received little or no
training prior to deployment which commanders believed made it more difficult to properly execute and oversee
the program.
"Also, most personnel responsible for awarding and overseeing CERP contracts valued at $500,000 or less
received little or no training prior to deployment and, once deployed, received a 1-hour briefing, which did not
provide detailed information on the individual's duties.
"As a result, frequent mistakes occurred, such as the omission of key clauses from contracts, which slowed the
project approval process. As GAO has reported in the past, poorly written contracts and statements of work can
increase DOD’s cost risk and could result in payment for projects that do not meet project goals or objectives.
"While mechanisms exist to facilitate coordination, DOD and USAID lack information that would provide greater
visibility on all U.S. government development projects. DOD and USAID generally coordinate projects at the
headquarters and unit level as well as through military-led provincial reconstruction teams which include USAID
representatives.
"In addition, in November 2008, USAID, DOD and the Department of State began participating in an interagency
group composed of senior U.S. government civilians and DOD personnel in Afghanistan to enhance planning
and coordination of development plans and related projects.
"However, complete project information is lacking, because DOD and USAID use different databases. USAID
has been tasked to develop a common database and is coordinating with DOD to do so, but development is in
the early stages and goals and milestones have not been established. Without clear goals and milestones, it is
unclear how progress will be measured or when it will be completed.
"GAO recommends that DOD evaluate workforce needs, ensure adequate staffing, and establish CERP training
requirements, and that DOD and USAID collaborate to create a centralized database of project data, including
milestones for completion. DOD concurred or partially concurred with GAO's recommendations, citing recent
actions taken. GAO believes its recommendations remain valid."
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark e-
newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!
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