Pubdate: Thu, 31 Mar 2016
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Column: Federal Insider
Copyright: 2016 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Joe Davidson

PLANE BOUGHT TO COMBAT DRUG TRADE IN AFGHANISTAN HAS YET TO FLY, BUT COSTS SOAR

The boondoggle of the week award goes to the Drug Enforcement 
Administration and the Defense Department. They joined forces to 
combat illegal drugs in Afghanistan but ended up with an expensive 
plane that, like their grand plans, won't fly. But the cost has 
soared. The plan was for the DOD to modify a DEA plane to be used in 
counter-narcotics operations in a combat zone. DEA purchased an ATR 
500 aircraft in September 2008 for $8.6 million. Eight years later, 
the cost of the program has ballooned without the plane ever getting 
off the ground for its intended mission.

The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General (IG) 
determined "collectively, the DEA and the Defense Department spent 
more than $86 million to purchase and modify a DEA aircraft with 
advanced surveillance equipment to conduct operations in the combat 
environment of Afghanistan, in what became known as the Global 
Discovery Program. We found that more than 7 years after the aircraft 
was purchased for the program, it remains inoperable, resting on 
jacks in Delaware, and has never flown in Afghanistan."

In a report released Wednesday, the IG delivered a list of problems 
with the program, including repeatedly missed deadlines and vastly 
blown budgets. Even if the plane magically flew tomorrow, it would be 
too late for the DEA mission in Afghanistan. The agency ended its 
aviation operations there in July. Now DEA plans to use the aircraft 
in less hostile places such as the Caribbean, Central America and 
South America, with June being the earliest projected date.

"However, even if they can meet that new target date, DEA and DOD 
officials estimate that the aircraft will not be completed with all 
previously agreed-upon modifications," Christine Hinton-Martinez, 
leader of an IG team of auditors based in San Francisco, said in a podcast.

When the Federal Insider asked the DEA and the DOD about the report, 
the Pentagon did not reply and the DEA the response was short 
boilerplate: "Reviews by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) 
are necessary and important, and DEA welcomes recommendations that 
make us better. DEA agrees that it can and should provide better 
oversight of its operational funding. We are reviewing policies and 
procedures to ensure the limited resources allocated to DEA are 
utilized in the most responsible and effective way possible."

In a detailed response to the inspector general's office, the DEA 
pointed its finger at the Defense Department, which supported the 
program with $29 million.

The DEA said it "had previous positive experiences utilizing DoD 
contractors for modifying DEA aircraft." The "significant difference" 
this time was previously "DEA utilized its own funding, and 
therefore, had the latitude to be more involved in the modification 
process. Based upon that previous experience, DEA had no indication 
that the Global Discovery modification would encounter the 
significant delays and problems that ultimately occurred."

The DEA must have had a clue at some point. The report says the 
project was to have been finished in December 2012, "but it has 
missed every intended delivery date that has been established."

Problems with the project go beyond the delays and cost overruns and 
start with the airplane's purchase. The IG said the DEA did not fully 
comply with acquisition regulations and did not consider "the time 
and cost it would incur to establish an infrastructure of pilots, 
mechanics, trainers, and spare parts required to operate the aircraft."

DEA awarded a $1.9 million contract in December 2012 to build a 
hangar specifically for the ATR 500 at the Kabul International 
Airport, but the IG said the plane "will most likely never be housed 
in the hangar."

By October 2014, DOD officials considered dumping the program, 
according to the report. About $65.9 million had been spent at that 
point, and another $6 million in repairs was needed.

Excerpted from washingtonpost.com/ powerpost
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom