thedrifter
03-30-05, 05:57 AM
03-29-2005
Hostile Takeover: DoD to Control USAF Procurement
By Nathaniel R. Helms
In an unprecedented move on Monday, the Department of Defense took over all major weapons and systems procurement programs from the U.S. Air Force in the wake of a burgeoning scandal that has already seen two senior procurement officials sentenced to prison with more investigations underway.
Last October, Darleen Druyun, 58, the Air Force’s former No. 2 procurement official, was sentenced to nine months in federal prison after admitting to favoring Boeing in several different contract negotiations before taking a $250,000-a-year job with the Pentagon’s second-largest contractor.
Following her conviction, former Boeing Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears was sentenced to four months in prison on Feb. 18, 2005, for his role in the conspiracy to violate federal conflict of interest laws. In addition to the four-month prison term, Sears was fined $250,000 and required to do 200 hours of community service. Sears had pleaded guilty to conspiring with Druyun to hire her while she was still handling Boeing military contracts for the government.
“The lights are on but no one is home,” quipped one senior Senate staffer who is close to the investigation. “We want the best for our service members, but as demonstrated by the facts, U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty, the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the (Boeing scandal) cases, the Department of Defense Inspector General, the Government Accounting Office, Congress and others have found the Air Force did not conduct itself in a manner above reproach and with accountability.”
In an effort to downplay the decision, which effectively removes the Air Force from final decision making in the purchase of its own weapons systems, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Michael Wynne said, “This action is not a punitive one, rather it is meant to assist the Air Force by overseeing and providing advice on important Air Force programs during a time of transition.”
“Sometimes things are very much what they appear to be,” said National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) Chairman Ken Boehm. The NLPC was instrumental in bringing the scandal to the forefront of the news media after it was discovered in 2003. “McNulty has said that the government’s plea agreements with both Sears and Druyun require their continued cooperation with investigators. I expect we will see them testifying in other cases in the near future as the scandal develops.”
Wynne’s decision stated that henceforth and for the foreseeable future all major defense acquisition programs managed by the Air Force and designated ACAT (acquisition category) 1C are to be placed under Wynne’s authority.
“There is no set timeline for this temporary designation and the AT&L staff will work closely with acting Secretary of the Air Force Michael L. Dominguez and the Air Force acquisition force until oversight of these programs is returned to the Air Force,” the DoD release stated.
Wynne explained that he took the extraordinary move to “ensure continuity of program oversight” while Dominguez settles into his new job.
The Air Force responded to the explosive announcement with a terse, unattributed one-sentence statement: “During this leadership transition, the Air Force welcomes OSD’s [Office of the Secretary of Defense] guidance and oversight as we work to deliver these vital weapons systems to the warfighter.”
In addition to taking over all the acquisitions programs in the 1C category, which include all the major weapons systems currently under consideration such as the F/A-22 Raptor, future aerial refueling tanker and the C-130J transport, Wynne has instructed the Air Force to “provide, within the next 15 days, a list of all significant program and milestone decisions expected in the next six months regarding these programs.”
Apparently the DoD official expects Dominguez’s settling in period to be a long and arduous one.
On Apr. 16, the Senate Armed Services Air and Land Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. John McCain, R–AZ, will be taking the Air Force to task once again after hearing testimony from the principle investigators involved in the Boeing scandal that sent the former top Air Force official and the senior Boeing executive to prison for their roles in the scandal.
Last summer, after failing a federally administered polygraph examination, Druyun began telling federal investigators what she had conspired to do with Boeing officials while she was the chief procurement officer for the Air Force, a post she held for almost ten years.
In her confession, Druyun revealed that she conspired with Boeing officials to pay a higher lease price for 100 Boeing 767 tanker airplanes than she believed was appropriate. She told prosecutors it was her “parting gift” to Boeing in order to ingratiate herself with the giant airplane manufacturer. At the time she was also considering bids of airplanes from other manufacturers.
Since then the program, which was lambasted by Congress and the media for a variety of reason, has been scrubbed. It was intended to use the untried jets to replace the Air Force’s aging fleet of KC-135 tankers that are absolutely vital to the worldwide Air Force mission.
In addition, Druyun admitted to negotiating an inflated $100 million contract with Boeing for NATO AWACS early warning aircraft so her daughter and future son-in-law would be hired by Boeing, conspiring with Boeing for the 2001 $4 billion Lockheed C-130 Hercules “AMP” program to upgrade avionics on board C-130 airplanes when other manufacturers could have done it cheaper, and to pay Boeing $412 million for C-17 cargo jets in order to gain its favor for herself and her family.
And if that was not enough malfeasance, she finally admitted to lying to the government after she was caught but before she negotiated her plea arrangement. In the end, Druyun was sentenced to nine months in jail, which is about four months longer than home decorating diva Martha Stewart, who went away for lying about $49,000 she earned from an insider trading deal.
Along with Druyun’s job came a title equivalent in rank to a three-star general. As such, she oversaw nearly every major weapons contract the Air Force awarded through the 1990s. This has left many senior officials within the Air Force who worked with her vulnerable to criticism, censure, and even career ending circumstances.
The scandal spawned by Druyun claimed its first Air Force victim in October 2004 when Gen. Gregory S. Martin, commander of the Air Force Materiel Command, withdrew his nomination to become the air combatant commander of Pacific Command forces. He withdrew his name after facing tough questioning from McCain regarding his comments about Druyun, with whom he had worked in the late 1990s.
Druyun, before she began serving her sentence, issued an apology: “I sincerely wish to apologize to my nation, my family and friends, and to the court for what I have done,” she said. “I understand that this was wrong, and I accept full responsibility for my conduct." Moments later, U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Va., sentenced her to nine months in a minimum security prison in South Carolina, ordered her to serve an additional seven months at a halfway house or in home detention, and fined her $5,000.
The impact of Druyun’s conviction will undoubtedly be felt for years. Before the probe is through many more contractors and government officials will probably face the wrath of the federal courts, Boehm said.
The last time there was a scandal this big in the Pentagon was during the 1980s. Dubbed Operation Ill Wind, it ended with more than 60 convictions of federal employees and contractors for bribery and contract fraud. As a result, Congress passed the 1988 Procurement Integrity Act, which established tight ethics rules for federal procurement officials and, ironically, was used to put Druyun and Sears behind bars.
It looks like another ill wind is about to blow.
DefenseWatch Contributing Editor Nathaniel R. “Nat” Helms is a Vietnam veteran, former police officer, long-time journalist and war correspondent living in Missouri. He is the author of two books, Numba One – Numba Ten and Journey Into Madness: A Hitchhiker’s Account of the Bosnian Civil War, both available at www.ebooks-online.com. He can be reached at natshouse1@charter.net. Send Feedback responses to* dwfeedback@yahoo.com.
Ellie
Hostile Takeover: DoD to Control USAF Procurement
By Nathaniel R. Helms
In an unprecedented move on Monday, the Department of Defense took over all major weapons and systems procurement programs from the U.S. Air Force in the wake of a burgeoning scandal that has already seen two senior procurement officials sentenced to prison with more investigations underway.
Last October, Darleen Druyun, 58, the Air Force’s former No. 2 procurement official, was sentenced to nine months in federal prison after admitting to favoring Boeing in several different contract negotiations before taking a $250,000-a-year job with the Pentagon’s second-largest contractor.
Following her conviction, former Boeing Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears was sentenced to four months in prison on Feb. 18, 2005, for his role in the conspiracy to violate federal conflict of interest laws. In addition to the four-month prison term, Sears was fined $250,000 and required to do 200 hours of community service. Sears had pleaded guilty to conspiring with Druyun to hire her while she was still handling Boeing military contracts for the government.
“The lights are on but no one is home,” quipped one senior Senate staffer who is close to the investigation. “We want the best for our service members, but as demonstrated by the facts, U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty, the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the (Boeing scandal) cases, the Department of Defense Inspector General, the Government Accounting Office, Congress and others have found the Air Force did not conduct itself in a manner above reproach and with accountability.”
In an effort to downplay the decision, which effectively removes the Air Force from final decision making in the purchase of its own weapons systems, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Michael Wynne said, “This action is not a punitive one, rather it is meant to assist the Air Force by overseeing and providing advice on important Air Force programs during a time of transition.”
“Sometimes things are very much what they appear to be,” said National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) Chairman Ken Boehm. The NLPC was instrumental in bringing the scandal to the forefront of the news media after it was discovered in 2003. “McNulty has said that the government’s plea agreements with both Sears and Druyun require their continued cooperation with investigators. I expect we will see them testifying in other cases in the near future as the scandal develops.”
Wynne’s decision stated that henceforth and for the foreseeable future all major defense acquisition programs managed by the Air Force and designated ACAT (acquisition category) 1C are to be placed under Wynne’s authority.
“There is no set timeline for this temporary designation and the AT&L staff will work closely with acting Secretary of the Air Force Michael L. Dominguez and the Air Force acquisition force until oversight of these programs is returned to the Air Force,” the DoD release stated.
Wynne explained that he took the extraordinary move to “ensure continuity of program oversight” while Dominguez settles into his new job.
The Air Force responded to the explosive announcement with a terse, unattributed one-sentence statement: “During this leadership transition, the Air Force welcomes OSD’s [Office of the Secretary of Defense] guidance and oversight as we work to deliver these vital weapons systems to the warfighter.”
In addition to taking over all the acquisitions programs in the 1C category, which include all the major weapons systems currently under consideration such as the F/A-22 Raptor, future aerial refueling tanker and the C-130J transport, Wynne has instructed the Air Force to “provide, within the next 15 days, a list of all significant program and milestone decisions expected in the next six months regarding these programs.”
Apparently the DoD official expects Dominguez’s settling in period to be a long and arduous one.
On Apr. 16, the Senate Armed Services Air and Land Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. John McCain, R–AZ, will be taking the Air Force to task once again after hearing testimony from the principle investigators involved in the Boeing scandal that sent the former top Air Force official and the senior Boeing executive to prison for their roles in the scandal.
Last summer, after failing a federally administered polygraph examination, Druyun began telling federal investigators what she had conspired to do with Boeing officials while she was the chief procurement officer for the Air Force, a post she held for almost ten years.
In her confession, Druyun revealed that she conspired with Boeing officials to pay a higher lease price for 100 Boeing 767 tanker airplanes than she believed was appropriate. She told prosecutors it was her “parting gift” to Boeing in order to ingratiate herself with the giant airplane manufacturer. At the time she was also considering bids of airplanes from other manufacturers.
Since then the program, which was lambasted by Congress and the media for a variety of reason, has been scrubbed. It was intended to use the untried jets to replace the Air Force’s aging fleet of KC-135 tankers that are absolutely vital to the worldwide Air Force mission.
In addition, Druyun admitted to negotiating an inflated $100 million contract with Boeing for NATO AWACS early warning aircraft so her daughter and future son-in-law would be hired by Boeing, conspiring with Boeing for the 2001 $4 billion Lockheed C-130 Hercules “AMP” program to upgrade avionics on board C-130 airplanes when other manufacturers could have done it cheaper, and to pay Boeing $412 million for C-17 cargo jets in order to gain its favor for herself and her family.
And if that was not enough malfeasance, she finally admitted to lying to the government after she was caught but before she negotiated her plea arrangement. In the end, Druyun was sentenced to nine months in jail, which is about four months longer than home decorating diva Martha Stewart, who went away for lying about $49,000 she earned from an insider trading deal.
Along with Druyun’s job came a title equivalent in rank to a three-star general. As such, she oversaw nearly every major weapons contract the Air Force awarded through the 1990s. This has left many senior officials within the Air Force who worked with her vulnerable to criticism, censure, and even career ending circumstances.
The scandal spawned by Druyun claimed its first Air Force victim in October 2004 when Gen. Gregory S. Martin, commander of the Air Force Materiel Command, withdrew his nomination to become the air combatant commander of Pacific Command forces. He withdrew his name after facing tough questioning from McCain regarding his comments about Druyun, with whom he had worked in the late 1990s.
Druyun, before she began serving her sentence, issued an apology: “I sincerely wish to apologize to my nation, my family and friends, and to the court for what I have done,” she said. “I understand that this was wrong, and I accept full responsibility for my conduct." Moments later, U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Va., sentenced her to nine months in a minimum security prison in South Carolina, ordered her to serve an additional seven months at a halfway house or in home detention, and fined her $5,000.
The impact of Druyun’s conviction will undoubtedly be felt for years. Before the probe is through many more contractors and government officials will probably face the wrath of the federal courts, Boehm said.
The last time there was a scandal this big in the Pentagon was during the 1980s. Dubbed Operation Ill Wind, it ended with more than 60 convictions of federal employees and contractors for bribery and contract fraud. As a result, Congress passed the 1988 Procurement Integrity Act, which established tight ethics rules for federal procurement officials and, ironically, was used to put Druyun and Sears behind bars.
It looks like another ill wind is about to blow.
DefenseWatch Contributing Editor Nathaniel R. “Nat” Helms is a Vietnam veteran, former police officer, long-time journalist and war correspondent living in Missouri. He is the author of two books, Numba One – Numba Ten and Journey Into Madness: A Hitchhiker’s Account of the Bosnian Civil War, both available at www.ebooks-online.com. He can be reached at natshouse1@charter.net. Send Feedback responses to* dwfeedback@yahoo.com.
Ellie