WASHINGTON – Recent revelations about the Pentagon apparently squandering about $30 million on useless uniforms for the Afghan National Army stand as just one example of a broken procurement system that encourages wasteful spending and potentially corruption, a federal inspector said Tuesday.
John F. Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, has opened a criminal investigation into $93 million in Pentagon purchases for Afghan uniforms dating back to 2007. The Pentagon procured more than a million uniforms, but about $28 million worth of the equipment features forest camo that is nearly useless in a country that is about 98 percent desert. According to an OIG report, the army already had access to U.S.-government owned uniforms featuring a “free camouflage” design.
The uniforms were purchased from Canadian company HyperStealth Biotechnology Corporation, which has designed uniforms for forces in Jordan, Chile and the United Arab Emirates. According to testimony, the corporation was the only contractor considered for the purchase.– READ MORE