by D. Cupples (photo by Andy Dunaway, U.S. DoD ) | Yesterday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released yet another report that will likely upset Department of Defense (DoD) higher-ups, this one stating that DoD has failed to establish effective anti-tampering programs to protect our technology in cases where our weapon systems end up in 
non-U.S. hands.
One example of anti-tampering technology is a protective design that makes it hard for people to extract (and analyze) hardware components without damaging them. This recent report is a follow-up to another critical report the GAO released nearly four years ago about the same topic. In part, the GAO states:
"The Department of Defense (DOD) invests billions of dollars on sophisticated weapon systems and technologies. These may be at risk of exploitation when exported, stolen, or lost during combat or routine missions. In an effort to minimize this risk, DOD developed an anti-tamper policy in 1999, calling for DOD components to implement anti-tamper techniques for critical technologies.
"In March 2004, GAO reported that program managers had difficulties implementing this policy, including identifying critical technologies. This follow-up report (1) describes recent actions DOD has taken to implement its anti-tamper policy and (2) identifies challenges facing program managers." (GAO report)
One of the major "challenges" is that DoD higher-ups have failed to issue department-wide directives about how to implement such systems. In other words, DoD has suffered coordination (or willpower) problems for nearly nine years.
This is not the first time that DoD has failed to make major improvements affecting national security or efficiency.
Since 2003, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) repeatedly reviewed the U.S. Department of Defense Department's (DoD) efficiency in acquiring weapons systems and repeatedly found major flaws -- including lack of accountability. In that case, DoD failed to coordinate spending on weapons systems, resulting (in part) in over-lapping purchases and wasted tax dollars.
In July 2007, the GAO reported that the DoD spends far more money acquiring goods and services than a private company could afford to spend on equivalent goods and services. Two of the problems: 1) DoD doesn't realistically assess its needs and the cost of fulfilling them; and 2) DoD doesn't negotiate contracts in a way that protects us taxpayers from waste or abuse.
The Defense Department has faced such constructive criticisms for years, and yet it continues to fail to repair its own systems. Given that the U.S. government has employed skilled lawyers and accountants over the last nine years, most onlookers cannot figure out why DoD's failings are ongoing. For other examples, see posts linked below.
Related BN-Politics Posts:
* $1 Billion (More) in Military Hardware Lost in Iraq
* Another Official Turned Blind Eye to Contractor Fraud?
* How DoD Flushes Tax Dollars Down the Latrine
* DoD Rewarding Bad Contractor Performance?
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