Tampa, Florida -- $219,000 to fix an improperly installed lug nut on a C-130 aircraft, $225,000 to repaint combat helicopters, and a half million dollars in contracts are being questioned in a Department of Defense audit. The audit points to a Command at MacDill Air Force Base.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are being controlled by Central Command at MacDill Air Force base in Tampa. While many people realize the role CentCom plays, not as many are aware of critical role another command at MacDill plays: Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
Retired Col. Tom Spellissy, who used to control a $4 billion budget at SOCOM, says the unit is charged with the mission of fighting and combating terrorism to make sure it doesn't come to the shores of the United States.
Spellissy says that government employees who make purchases for the Department of Defense take an oath. He says the oath basically is to act in the best interest in the taxpayers, getting the best piece of equipment for the best price.
But contractors hired by the government don't take that oath and an audit by the Inspector General of the Department of Defense calls into question how SOCOM used contractors on projects valued at $514 million.
Laura Peterson with the non profit Taxpayers for Common Sense says the oversight is clearly inefficient. Peterson says the audit and other investigations show that SOCOM allowed contractors to take over tasks that only should be handled by government employees from the Department of Defense.
Spellissy says the tax payers are at risk when contractors make government decisions, because the contractors are biased. Spellissy says the contractors are there to make money, while the government is there to control the money and get the best bang for the buck.
But one of the most disturbing facts in the government investigation is that it says the commanders at Special Operations had no idea how many dollars and how many contractors pass through the base.
The audit and other federal investigations found the contractors were signing off on their own overtime requests. In addition, she says they were structuring some of the requirements for the contract task orders on items they were bidding on. Peterson says these are things they clearly have a direct interest in and tasks they should not be performing.
Spellissy says it is a big problem that contractors are performing those functions and in certain cases it could break the law.
SOCOM agrees with most of the findings in the audit. It is implementing procedures to ensure contractors don't perform government functions, and it is conducting an investigation to see if any violations took place.
But with billions of dollars pouring through MacDill to Afghanistan and the rapid build up, watch dog groups are concerned that contractors will be able to take advantage of taxpayers in the name of national security.
Peterson says there is a worry that the Defense Department is not on track to correct the bad behaviors that have taken place in the past. And much of the financial bad behavior is controlled right in our own backyard at MacDill Air Force base and Special Operations Command.
Colonel Spellissy is the same officer who refused to go along with former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's plan to hide $20 million from Congress. The government arrested Spellissy and charged him with several violations. The federal judge who heard the case said Spellissy was a victim of a travesty of justice.
He was convicted on one count, served eight months in federal prison and has been granted an appeal hearing by the federal appeals court.
Audit raises questions about half billion spent by MacDill (WTSP Tampa Bay)
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