Gansler Commission Explained

The Gansler Commission investigated the contingency contracting crisis in 2007, named after its chair, Jacques S. Gansler, a former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. In August, then United States Secretary of the Army, Pete Geren, established the independent Commission on Army Acquisition and Program Management in Expeditionary Operations to review recent operations and provide recommendations.^[1] This commission released what became known as the Gansler Report in October 2007.^[2] Commission members include David J. Berteau, former principal deputy assistant secretary of defense (resource management & support); retired Gen. Leon Salomon, former commander, Army Materiel Command; retired Gen. David M. Maddox, former commander, U.S. Army Europe; retired Rear Adm. David R. Oliver Jr., former director, Office of Management and Budget, Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraq; and George T. Singley III, former DoD deputy director, research and engineering.

Contingency Contracting Crisis

• In August 2006, United States Army Lieutenant Colonel Marshall Gutierrez, a senior logistics officer in Kuwait, was arrested, and was accused of shaking down a laundry contractor for a $3,400 bribe. After his arrest, he was released to his quarters and was found dead a few days later next to an empty bottle of prescription sleeping pills and an open container of what appeared to be antifreeze.^[3]
• In October 2006, United States Army Sergeant Denise A. Lannaman, a soldier working for Colonel Gutierrez died of a gunshot wound, perhaps believing she would be interviewed involving the colonel's contracting improprieties.^[4]
• In December 2006, United States Army Major Gloria D. Davis killed herself with a gunshot wound to her head, the day after confessing to accepting $225,000 in bribes while a contracting officer in Kuwait.^[5]
• In July 2007, United States Army Major John L. Cockerham was arrested for orchestrating a large bribery scheme in Kuwait and Iraq.^[6] In what became known as the Cockerham bribery case, this military officer issued multimillion-dollar contracts to companies providing services between 2004 and 2007. He was later found guilty and sentenced to 17 and 1/2 years in prison for accepting bribes.
• Besides these high-visibility suicides of contracting and logistics professionals, there were some 20 military and civilian United States Army employees charged in more than 70 criminal contract-fraud cases.^[7]

Gansler Report

Findings

When the Gansler Report was released on 31 October 2007, Dr. Gansler identified three key findings: not enough people, too little training, and an antiquated contracting system.^[8] This report did not address any suspected criminal cases being investigated internally within the Army and the Justice Department. Although the media recognized this effort as the broadest examination of the problems to date with potentially the most far-reaching recommendations for fixes, Congressional lawmakers were still concerned that the Army took too long in one of their recommendations, that of creating a special contracting corps, one that Congress authorized a few years prior.^[9]

Recommendations

The commission outlined four areas as critical to future success:

1. Increased stature, quantity and career development for contracting personnel—both military and civilian, particularly for expeditionary operations;
2. Restructure of the organization and responsibility to facilitate contracting and contract management;
3. Provide training and tools for overall contracting activities in expeditionary operations; and
4. Obtain legislative, regulatory, and policy assistance to enable contracting effectiveness, important in expeditionary operations.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Army News Service . Army Fights Contracting Fraud . Department of the Army . 30 August 2007 . 15 January 2014.
2. Web site: Commission on Army Acquisition and Program Management in Expeditionary Operations . Urgent Reform Required: Army Expeditionary Contracting . Department of the Army . 31 October 2007 . 15 January 2014.
3. Web site: Simpson, Glenn R.. Glenn R. Simpson . Inside the Greed Zone . The Wall Street Journal . 20 October 2007. 15 January 2014.
4. Web site: Dwyer, Jim . From Queens to Kuwait, Where a Life Was Ended . The New York Times . 19 September 2007 . 15 January 2014.
5. Web site: Schmitt, Eric . Glanz, James . U.S. Says Company Bribed Officers for Work in Iraq . The New York Times . 31 August 2007 . 15 January 2014.
6. Web site: Thompson, Ginger . Schmitt, Eric . Graft in Military Contracts Spread From Base . The New York Times . 24 September 2007 . 15 January 2014.
7. Web site: Bennett, John. Two investigations aimed at contracting fraud . Army Times . 29 August 2007 . 15 January 2014.
8. Web site: McMahon, Lee . Sheftick, Gary . Gansler Commission Cites Systemic Problems in Army Contracting . Army News Release . 1 November 2007 . 15 January 2014.
9. Web site: Schmitt, Eric . Panel Faults Army's Wartime Contracting . The New York Times . 1 November 2007 . 15 January 2014.