DCAA Report on Prime Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan

Oversight of war zone subcontractors is lacking, panel finds

July 26, 2010 Prime contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan are not managing their subcontractors' performance and fees consistently, the Defense Department's top auditing official told the Commission on Wartime Contracting on Monday.

A Defense Contract Audit Agency review of prime contractors' billing and cost records identified several situations in which they failed to award fixed-price subcontracts based on fair and reasonable prices, often leading to unreasonable or unallowable costs.

"Prime contractors must be held accountable for establishing fair and reasonable subcontract prices," Patrick Fitzgerald, director of DCAA {17 page PDF} told commission members.

Subcontractors comprise about one-third of the roughly 200,000 contractor employees in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the commission's data. But federal regulations limit government officials' visibility into the activities of in-theater subcontractors. Continued