Pentagon to be grilled about $ 28M overspent on uniforms

WASHINGTON The Pentagon will be called to account on Capitol Hill this week for its pricey plan to outfit Afghan soldiers in uniforms with a private- label forest camouflage scheme of dubious value in the desert country.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D- Mo., fired off a letter Friday to the Pentagon about the report from the Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction that found the military may have squandered $ 28 million by purchasing uniforms for the Afghan army without testing their effectiveness. The uniforms use a proprietary forest pattern while woodlands cover just 2% of the country’s terrain.

Meanwhile, a panel of the House Armed Services committee will meet on Tuesday to hear from John Sopko, the inspector general, who blasted U. S. commanders in June for buying the uniforms that also featured fancier frills, including zippers instead of buttons.

McCaskill, the ranking Democrat of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, called on the Pentagon to explain why it issued the contract without competitive bidding.

The Pentagon has not refuted Sopko’s report. Military officials acknowledged they needed to study if a cheaper, more effective uniform exists. The Pentagon has spent $ 93 million since 2007 to buy 1.3 million uniforms for Afghan soldiers. Simply by using a camouflage pattern owned but not currently used by the U. S. military, could save taxpayers $ 71 million over the next 10 years, according to Sopko’s report.