Department of Defense Inspector General Claude M. “Mick” Kicklighter led an interagency, inter-service “Assessment Team for Munitions Accountability” on a seven-week inspection visit in Southwest Asia in response to accountability and control problems involving weapons and munitions that were purchased by the U.S. Government and intended for use by Iraq security forces.
The Assessment Team, which deployed in late August 2007, was comprised of representatives from the DoD Office of Inspector General, the Department of State Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as other agencies. The team’s overall objective was to determine whether the controls over the distribution of conventional military arms, ammunition, and explosives provided to the security forces of Iraq and Afghanistan are adequate.
The issue of weapons and munitions accountability has been under increasing scrutiny by Congress. On September 21, 2007, DoD Principal Deputy Inspector General Thomas F. Gimble testified before the House Armed Service Committee regarding, “Accountability During Contingency Operations: Preventing and Fighting Corruption in Contracting and Establishing and Maintaining Appropriate Controls on Materiel.”
Mr. Gimble focused on discussing contracting in general, as well as the ongoing assessment related to accountability of weapons, munitions, and explosives. To see a copy of Mr. Gimble’s statement, click here.
In addition to the Assessment Team visit, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the criminal investigative arm of the DoD IG, has also been working with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (Army CID), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Justice (U.S. DOJ), the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR),and other government agencies on related investigations involving missing weapons, fraud, bribery and corruption.
Since returning from Southwest Asia, Inspector General Kicklighter has briefed Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and members of Congress on the findings of the Assessment Team inspection visit.
The issue of weapons and munitions accountability has been under increasing scrutiny by Congress. On September 21, 2007, DoD Principal Deputy Inspector General Thomas F. Gimble testified before the House Armed Service Committee regarding, “Accountability During Contingency Operations: Preventing and Fighting Corruption in Contracting and Establishing and Maintaining Appropriate Controls on Materiel.”