Wanted: army contracting officers.
by Erwin, Sandra I.
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In past presidential elections, candidates often have vowed to
"clean up Washington" and downsize the "bloated"
federal bureaucracy. That anti-government mindset ultimately left
military agencies ill-equipped and under-staffed to properly oversee
wartime contracting, said acting undersecretary of the Army Nelson M.
Ford. Abuses and corruption in wartime contracts, especially for Iraq
reconstruction and other projects, is a problem that was "a decade
or more in the making," Ford said.
Now the Army is trying to repair the damage. The service plans to
recruit hundreds of contracting officers at an annual cost of $110,000
per person. But in the end the Army will save money because government
workers cost much less than contractors for the same work, Ford said.
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