The GAO Reports

Each month the General Accountability Office (GAO) publishes a list of the reports issued that month. Some of the March reports that I found interesting are discussed below.

FBI
They've had a heck of a time with their information processing efforts. Their Trilogy project costs of $537,000,000 included such problems as

• No controls over accounting for purchased equipment, which led to 1200 pieces of equipment gone missing at a cost to us of $7,600,000
• Payment of $10,100,000 to contractors with little supporting documentation.

DOD
The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is the 21st century replacement for the F-16. The problem is that, where the F-16 used tested technology, the JSF does not. However, DOD plans to produce 424 JSF by 2013, in which year it will complete its initial operational testing of the plane. Make sense to you? Especially when the 424 planes will cost almost $50 billion.

And the JSF program is not the only new technology DOD is trying to produce. The GAO looked at 52 programs (estimated to cost $850,000,000) and found similar poor management practices and, perhaps, excessive risk taking. Consider that in a typical DOD contract the final cost is usually 30 to 40% higher than originally estimated, deadlines are not met, performance falls short.

Homeland Security
Needs to hire some experienced IT people as they don't seem to be capable of developing the necessary computer systems to implement their mandate.

Department of Energy
I was a young man when I first heard of the plans to dispose of radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain. DOE had quality control problems there in the '80s and in the '90s. They have yet, in the 21st century, been able to satisfy GAO auditors that Yucca Mountain will be a safe place to store nuclear waste.