Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Bloomberg.com
May 29, 2008 By Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
Pentagon auditors said they have discovered additional violations in the awarding of public relations contracts connected to the Air Force's Thunderbirds precision flying team.
In an earlier report, the Pentagon's inspector general had found that a canceled $49.9 million contract was “tainted by improper influence.” The latest probe uncovered at least six more contracts worth about $4.2 million that the inspector general said were awarded without competitive bidding.
Air Force officials “allowed contracts to be directed to specific contractors without obtaining the benefits of competition,” the audit said. The report said Air Force contracting officials believed high-ranking officers were pressuring them “to award the contracts to specific companies.” The May 20 report was signed by Paul Granetto, an assistant inspector general.
The contracts, ranging in value from $11,142 to $3.6 million, were awarded between June 2003 and March 2005 to four companies that provide audio-visual services for Thunderbirds air shows. They were awarded through the Air Combat Commands' 99th Contracting Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, where the Thunderbirds are based.
The Thunderbirds demonstrate their flying skills at air shows around the country. Flying Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16C aircraft, pilots often fly in formation 18 to 24 inches apart at an average speed of 400 miles per hour. They also execute tight turns and rolls, sometimes flying upside down.
The Air Combat Command said in an e-mail statement that it was studying the report “with the utmost seriousness” and will act on its recommendations. Air Force commanders have already been reminded to take care to avoid ethical violations, the statement said.
“We have made it clear to all commanders and specifically to our contracting professionals that we must never forget that our roles as fiscal stewards should not be taken lightly,” the statement said.
An April 17 report said Air Force officials steered the $49.9 million public relations contract to a company connected to top Air Force officers. It was canceled in February 2006, about six weeks after it was awarded.
The company, Strategic Message Solutions LLC of Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, “had a long-standing relationship with senior Air Force officers and members of the Thunderbirds,” said Pentagon Inspector General Claude Kicklighter.
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne on April 17 said five officials involved in the contract would be disciplined. He didn't specify the penalty and named only one official, Major General Stephen M. Goldfein, former commander of the Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base. Goldfein was an adviser to the team that evaluated contract bids.
Kicklighter has also reopened his investigation of the canceled contract at the request of Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, and John McCain of Arizona, the panel's ranking Republican and now his party's presumptive presidential nominee. The senators wanted to know whether other senior Air Force officials were involved in the contracting decisions.
“Senior ranking military officers,” including the four- star leader of the Air Combat Command, “were involved in directing the contracting process,” which violates federal contracting regulations, the audit said.
The audit highlighted one instance where the commander, according to contract files, in July 2004 directed officials add $289,286 to an existing $978,172 contract for a communications trailer. One Air Force memo concluded it was a “highly political four-star direction.”
The audit said, “We concluded that the ACC commander's apparent personal involvement in the contracting environment in this capacity constitutes an appearance of a conflict of interest and potential undue influence on the contracting officer.” The commander wasn't named.
May 29, 2008 By Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
Pentagon auditors said they have discovered additional violations in the awarding of public relations contracts connected to the Air Force's Thunderbirds precision flying team.
In an earlier report, the Pentagon's inspector general had found that a canceled $49.9 million contract was “tainted by improper influence.” The latest probe uncovered at least six more contracts worth about $4.2 million that the inspector general said were awarded without competitive bidding.
Air Force officials “allowed contracts to be directed to specific contractors without obtaining the benefits of competition,” the audit said. The report said Air Force contracting officials believed high-ranking officers were pressuring them “to award the contracts to specific companies.” The May 20 report was signed by Paul Granetto, an assistant inspector general.
The contracts, ranging in value from $11,142 to $3.6 million, were awarded between June 2003 and March 2005 to four companies that provide audio-visual services for Thunderbirds air shows. They were awarded through the Air Combat Commands' 99th Contracting Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, where the Thunderbirds are based.
The Thunderbirds demonstrate their flying skills at air shows around the country. Flying Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16C aircraft, pilots often fly in formation 18 to 24 inches apart at an average speed of 400 miles per hour. They also execute tight turns and rolls, sometimes flying upside down.
The Air Combat Command said in an e-mail statement that it was studying the report “with the utmost seriousness” and will act on its recommendations. Air Force commanders have already been reminded to take care to avoid ethical violations, the statement said.
“We have made it clear to all commanders and specifically to our contracting professionals that we must never forget that our roles as fiscal stewards should not be taken lightly,” the statement said.
An April 17 report said Air Force officials steered the $49.9 million public relations contract to a company connected to top Air Force officers. It was canceled in February 2006, about six weeks after it was awarded.
The company, Strategic Message Solutions LLC of Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, “had a long-standing relationship with senior Air Force officers and members of the Thunderbirds,” said Pentagon Inspector General Claude Kicklighter.
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne on April 17 said five officials involved in the contract would be disciplined. He didn't specify the penalty and named only one official, Major General Stephen M. Goldfein, former commander of the Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base. Goldfein was an adviser to the team that evaluated contract bids.
Kicklighter has also reopened his investigation of the canceled contract at the request of Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, and John McCain of Arizona, the panel's ranking Republican and now his party's presumptive presidential nominee. The senators wanted to know whether other senior Air Force officials were involved in the contracting decisions.
“Senior ranking military officers,” including the four- star leader of the Air Combat Command, “were involved in directing the contracting process,” which violates federal contracting regulations, the audit said.
The audit highlighted one instance where the commander, according to contract files, in July 2004 directed officials add $289,286 to an existing $978,172 contract for a communications trailer. One Air Force memo concluded it was a “highly political four-star direction.”
The audit said, “We concluded that the ACC commander's apparent personal involvement in the contracting environment in this capacity constitutes an appearance of a conflict of interest and potential undue influence on the contracting officer.” The commander wasn't named.