Pentagon Lost Track of $220 Billion in Military Equipment

The largest federal agency, the Department of Defense (DOD), admitted that it lost track of $220 billion worth of equipment it distributed to military contractors. This was according to a Government Accountability Office. Report.

DoD contracts often with third parties for services such as intelligence gathering and weapons development. Sometimes, the DoD lends government property to contractors to aid them in achieving their mission goals. This includes ammunition, missiles, or torpedoes. The DoD has not done a good job keeping track of these assets.

According to the report, $220 billion worth of equipment was likely lost by the agency. “significantly understated.” In the report, lost equipment is also listed as one of the reasons why the DoD cannot balance their books. The agency has never Passed an auditThe agency could not account for this. 39% of the $3.5 Trillion During its November 2022 last audit, in assets

This isn’t a new problem. Auditors first noted that the agency was having a difficult time tracking assets in 2001. The leadership have failed multiple times since then to establish a database that would document assets. It is now in the eighth stage of creating a database to document its assets.

It is not only financially irresponsible to lose track $220 billion worth of assets by the Pentagon, but it also poses a threat to national security when the Pentagon lends out weapons without following up on their whereabouts.

OpenTheBooks.com’s forensic auditors bring you the #WasteOfTheDay

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.