Yet even as the Coast Guard expands its personnel, a recent report by Congress’ watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office, noted that the Deepwater program “has experienced serious performance and management problems.”
The report cites a $100 million contract the Coast Guard awarded in 2002 to Integrated Coast Guard Systems, a joint venture put together by Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.
The contract work was meant to modernize and lengthen eight patrol boats, but after the work was done, the vessels began to show severe structural damage and had to be pulled out of service. Six years later, they remain as scrap in Baltimore’s Coast Guard Yard.
“When it appeared that the hulls weren’t performing, one of the first decisions I made as a commandant, I said, ‘Take the boats out of commission,’” Allen said.
The Department of Justice is now investigating what went wrong and whether the government can get some of its money back.