Army: Bolstering acquisition workforce could take 10 years

Building up the Army’s acquisition workforce into an adequately staffed, experienced labor force will likely take as long as 10 years, a top Army officer told a Senate panel Dec. 6.

The Commission on Army Acquisition and Program Management in Expeditionary Operations stated in a report released Nov. 1 that the Army should add 1,400 employees to balance the dramatic increase in defense spending since the 2001 terrorist attacks against the 25 percent of the acquisition workforce cut in the 1990s.

Lt. Gen. Ross Thompson, military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said it would take about three years to fill 400 positions with military contracting officers and 1,000 jobs with civilian contracting officers.

But getting contracting officers training, certification and essential hands-on experience will require the most time, he told the Senate Armed Service Committee’s Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee.

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Congress looks for price fix

Regulators left a gap in a final rule on time-and-materials contracts that lawmakers say exceeds the authority that Congress granted. Now, lawmakers want to close that gap and curtail the use of such contracts.

The Senate Armed Services Committee said contractors can defraud the government too easily through time-and-materials contracts because departments have a hard time monitoring the work and ensuring that the prices they pay are fair.

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Senate committee concerned about Doan's IG comments

The Senate Armed Services Committee is concerned about the attitude of the General Services Administration’s leaders toward the inspector general’s oversight, the committee’s general counsel said today.

Peter Levine, general counsel and chief adviser to committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), said GSA Administrator Lurita Doan’s attacks on GSA IG Brian Miller raised flags with the committee.

“There may be a change in attitude at GSA, which would undermine progress that I think the agency has made over the last three or four years,” he said in a speech at the Coalition for Government Procurement conference.

Read rest of the story: FCW.com News - Senate committee concerned about Doan's IG comments