Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation's (DOT&E) use of contractors.

GAO found that: (1) DOT&E policies and procedures for managing contracts for operational test and evaluation (OT&E) support complied with existing guidelines; (2) DOT&E took measures that were consistent with regulations requiring agencies to guard against contractor conflicts of interest; (3) DOT&E use of the Institute for Defense Analyses as a contractor for OT&E support was permissible under federal regulations and appropriate, since the Institute was less likely than private contractors to have conflicts of interest; (4) of the $12.5 million DOT&E obligated to it during fiscal years 1987 through 1989, the Institute used about $2 million for 51 consultants and 2 subcontractors; (5) of those 51 consultants, 2 had been involved in overseeing programs that they subsequently performed operational test assessments on for DOT&E; and (6) in four instances, the Institute performed both acquisition and operational testing functions on the same weapon systems. GAO believes that disclosure of a consultant's prior work would be consistent with the regulation requiring disclosure of federally funded research and development centers' affairs.

Status Legend:

Review Pending-GAO has not yet assessed implementation status.

Open-Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned, or actions that partially satisfy the intent of the recommendation have been taken.

Closed-implemented-Actions that satisfy the intent of the recommendation have been taken.

Closed-not implemented-While the intent of the recommendation has not been satisfied, time or circumstances have rendered the recommendation invalid.

• Review Pending
• Open
• Closed - implemented
• Closed - not implemented

Recommendation for Executive Action

Recommendation: The Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, should require the Institute for Defense Analyses to disclose possible conflicts of interest to it for resolution because DOT&E is ultimately responsible for the consequences of any contractor participation in OT&E activities.

Agency Affected:

Status: Closed

Comments: Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.