Defense Science Board Finds No Barrier To New Druyun Scandal

Defense Daily | May 11, 2005 | Sharon Weinberger

[bruin66]

Defense Daily May 11, 2005 Pg. 4 Defense Science Board Finds No Barrier To New Druyun Scandal

By Sharon Weinberger

A senior defense advisory body has concluded there are still no safeguards in the Pentagon’s acquisition system to prevent problems similar to those brought on by Darleen Druyun, the former Air Force weapons buyer currently serving time in prison for violating federal conflict of interest laws.

After Druyun admitted last year to breaking federal procurement regulations, Michael Wynne, the acting undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, asked the DSB to review the Pentagon’s management structures. The final report was completed in March and released by the Pentagon last week.

"One of the Task Force’s key findings is that while current acquisition practices make an incident on the scale of the Druyun case unlikely, there are currently no structural or policy mandates in place that would prevent this situation from recurring," William Schneider, the chairman of the DSB, wrote in a memo accompanying the report.

And while a repeat of a Druyun-scale fiasco is "remote," according to the study’s co-chairs, the DSB recommends a number of fixes to the acquisition process. One of the "overarching" recommendations made by the task force is to avoid the concentration of power in a single individual--something that was widely considered the major contributing factor in the case of Druyun.

There are too many acquisition officials that can say, "no," but not enough that can say, "yes," the DSB wrote. "This diffusion of authority enables those who master the system to gain power."

As a longstanding civilian acquisition official, Druyun amassed considerable power and was a key decisionmaker in Air Force procurement. Supervisors often credited her for work on acquisition reform, but many contractors and subordinates found her abusive, according to the DSB. The DSB’s findings in many ways mirror those of the Government Accountability Office, which in its own investigation found that Druyun was often able to usurp powers from officials who were not as experienced or knowledgeable as she was.

Significantly, however, the DSB’s recommendations focus on process issues, rather than fundamental changes needed in federal acquisition regulations. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whose initial investigation into the Air Force’s tanker lease sparked the Druyun investigation, has been pushing for more comprehensive reform of the Pentagon’s acquisition policy. At issue is whether the scandal was the result of one individual, such as Druyun, or problems endemic to weapons buying and the relationship between the Pentagon and its contractors.

Druyun was the Air Force’s principle deputy for acquisition until 2002, when she retired from the Pentagon. She took a job several months later with Boeing [BA].

In 2004, Druyun pleaded guilty to covering up job discussions she had with Boeing while still negotiating contracts with the company on behalf of the Air Force. She later also admitted to steering contracts to Boeing and inflating the price on the Air Force’s tanker lease because of her and her family’s employment there.

As a result of those admissions and the related investigations, the Pentagon cancelled the tanker contract and has initiated a number of investigations into other contracts Druyun was involved with.

[bruin66]

I think concentrating on hiring honest people is more important than "process".

[jocon307]

"I think concentrating on hiring honest people is more important than "process".

I read a long article about this in the Wall Street Journal. It was years ago, so I many not remember it clearly. But it seems to me that this woman started off honest, but after years of almost unrivalled and unchallenged power, things sort of "went to her head".