United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2007-03-26 monographic deposited born digital 11 p. GA 1.13:GAO-07-640R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-640R P0b002ee1803a1869 f:d07640r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-640R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-640R GAO-07-640R Accountability Contract administration Contract oversight Contracts Defense procurement Department of Defense contractors Procurement practices Service contracts Staff utilization Strategic planning Correspondence A67246 On January 17, 2007, GAO testified before Congress on the Department of Defense's (DOD) management of its acquisition of services. GAO made several key points during the hearing. First, DOD's long-standing problems with contract management have become more prominent as DOD's reliance on contractors to provide services continues to grow. Second, DOD lacks sound contracting practices when acquiring services. Third, DOD's acquisition workforce has been downsized without sufficient attention to requisite skills and competencies. Fourth, DOD's acquisitions have resulted in outcomes that have cost the department valuable resources. And, finally, while DOD is taking some steps to address these problems, it does not know how well its services acquisition processes are working, which part of its mission can best be met through buying services, and whether it is obtaining the services it needs while protecting DOD's and the taxpayer's interests. Within this context, members of Congress requested that GAO provide additional comments on DOD's efforts regarding the following topics: interagency contracting, acquisition of services, acquisition reform, and the acquisition workforce. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-640R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-640R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-640R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-640R.pdf GAO-07-640R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-640R Correspondence GAO-07-640R; Defense Services Acquisition: Questions for the Record; Accountability Contract administration Contract oversight Contracts Defense procurement Department of Defense contractors Procurement practices Service contracts Staff utilization Strategic planning