The Department of Defense Inspector General (DoDIG) has released a new audit report of potential interest to members of the life cycle logistics functional area entitled “DODIG-2023-097, “Audit of the Army’s Use of Public-Private Partnerships at Anniston Army Depot,” (Project No. D2022-D000AH-0050.000)”.

According to the DoDIG: “the objective of this audit was to determine whether Army officials established metrics to measure benefits from public private partnerships (P3) for product support at Anniston Army Depot, Alabama, in accordance with DoD policies, and whether the Army received the benefits. We scoped our audit to P3s at Anniston Army Depot because of the large dollar value of the P3s at Anniston Army Depot.”

The auditors went on to say, “Product support P3s are cooperative arrangements between organic (government owned and government operated) product support providers and one or more commercial entities to perform defense related work, use DoD facilities and equipment, or both. DoD policy requires that DoD officials establish benefits, use metrics to monitor benefits, and review the P3 at least every 5 years. (Findings included) Army officials did not always establish benefits for the seven P3s we reviewed and did not establish metrics needed to determine whether the Army received benefits from the P3s. In addition, Army officials did not review the P3s every 5 years. This occurred because:

• the DoD lacks a structure for P3 oversight;

• officials were not fully aware of DoD and Army requirements applicable to P3s and were not required to attend P3 training; and

• Army P3 policies did not align with DoD P3 policy.”

Additionally, the IG indicated, “Army officials did not have readily available data to support that the Army received the benefits from the P3s. While we were able to validate that the Army received some benefits from the P3s, in some instances officials could not support that the Army received the identified benefits. Not establishing benefits and associated metrics and failing to reassess the P3s on a regular basis limits the Army’s ability to maximize the value of its P3s. “

The auditors also made 12 recommendations to address the findings in this report including one for us here at DAU to update our training on this important topic, which was completed in April 2023. According to the DoDIG, “…we verified that the updated training course LOG 0060 “Public‑Private Partnerships”, addresses the knowledge gaps we identified in this report, including identifying and establishing benefits and metrics and performing a 5‑year review; therefore, the recommendation is closed.”