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GAO-13-251R 1 (2013-02-25)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacgxf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: A ~G A 0 Ac-Quntlbility , Integrity I Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 February 25, 2013 Congressional Addressees Subject: Defense Contracting: Actions Needed to Explore Additional Opportunities to Gain Efficiencies in Acquiring Foreign Language Support According to the Department of Defense (DOD), the ability of U.S. military personnel to communicate and interact with multinational partners, security forces, and local indigenous populations can be critical factors to mission success, as evidenced by operational experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. DOD utilizes language professionals and regional experts within its ranks of military personnel to provide foreign language support,1 such as foreign language skills, regional expertise, and cultural awareness capabilities needed to execute missions, as well as contracted interpreters and translators who provide this support. To meet increased demands on the need for foreign language support from ongoing contingency operations, DOD has relied on contactors to supplement the capability provided by military personnel. For example, the number of contractor personnel required to provide foreign language translation and interpretation services for contingency operations more than tripled from 2004 to 2010 (from about 4,000 to about 14,000). As of November 2012, the number of contractor personnel required by DOD was approximately 9,000. As a result, DOD has made considerable investments in providing contract support. For example, DOD obligated about $6.8 billion from fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to acquire a variety of foreign language-related services and products to support its forces. We have identified opportunities for DOD to improve its approach to contracting from a broad perspective as well as in areas related to foreign language support. For example, DOD contract management is on our list of high-risk areas in the federal government.2 In 2013, we noted that DOD needed to take steps to strategically manage the acquisition of services, including developing the data needed to define and measure desired outcomes to improve outcomes on the billions of dollars that DOD spends annually on goods and services.3 Furthermore, since 2009 we have identified a number of management challenges 1DOD has not defined foreign language support as a specific set of services or products. However, during the course of our review officials representing DOD components, which include the military services, combatant commands, and defense agencies, identified a range of services and products that are considered foreign language support, such as translation and interpretation services and the use of personnel with language skills to serve as role players during training exercises. Therefore, in this report we use the term foreign language support to refer to this range of services and products. 2GAO's High Risk Program highlights major areas that are at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement, or are in broad need of reform. 3GAO, High-Risk Series: An Update, GAO-1 3-283, (Washington, D.C.: February 2013). GAO-1 3-251 R Defense Contracting

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