Friday, August 31, 2007

Perspective: Excessive costs, lack of records no bar to KBR

Above: A soldier (right) is surprised and delighted to find he will get a free breakfast in honor of receiving the 50 millionth meal served by the KBR-run Wings of Freedom Dining Facility in Anbar in January, 2006.

In late June, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction released a scathing audit, charging that the Army's lead wartime logistics contractor, KBR Inc., had grossly overspent on food, failed to keep accurate fuel service records and provided better housing to its employees than to U.S. soldiers.
It was the latest failing report card for the former Halliburton subsidiary, which for the past six years has been the exclusive prime contractor of the Army's Logistics Civil Augmentation Program. The LOGCAP contract provides U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan with housing, meals, fuel, and laundry and sanitation services, among other support.

Although allegations of misconduct and overbilling have followed the Houston-based firm for more than a decade, KBR has had little difficulty finding new work. In fact, just five days after the IG report, KBR was awarded a slice of the new LOGCAP IV contract, a lucrative deal worth as much as $50 billion.

Read the rest at Government Executive