From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Afghanistan Security Equipment Description: The United States has spent nearly $84 billion on Afghan security since 2002. But are we providing the right equipment to Afghan forces? Related GAO Work: GAO-19-116: Afghanistan Security: Some Improvements Reported in Afghan Forces’ Capabilities, but Actions Needed to Enhance DOD Oversight of U.S.-Purchased Equipment Released: October 2018 [ Background Music ] [ Jessica Farb: ] DOD really does need to get a handle on the equipment that's being used, to ensure it's being used effectively and efficiently. [ Matt Oldham: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm Matt Oldham. The United States has invested nearly $84 billion in Afghan security since 2002. It's a price tag that includes equipment and the training necessary to operate and maintain that equipment. So, maybe you could understand if Congress were to ask about the Afghan Security Forces' ability to operate and sustain the equipment they bought. With me is Jess Farb, and she led an International Affairs and Trade report that explored this very issue. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Jess. [ Jessica Farb: ] Thanks for having me. [ Matt Oldham: ] So, Jess, can you give me a few examples of the equipment we're talking about here? [ Jessica Farb: ] Sure. We took a case study approach and looked at three different types of equipment in this report. We looked at the MD-530 helicopters. We looked at Mobile Strike Force Vehicles, which are heavily armored vehicles used in combat. As well as radios which can span the range of very sophisticated tactical radios all the way down to just your standard communications device. [ Matt Oldham: ] And what can you tell me about the use of this U.S.-purchased equipment in Afghanistan? [ Jessica Farb: ] Information that DOD has on the use of this equipment depends on which type of force is using the equipment. So, essentially, among the Afghan security forces there are the conventional frontline forces as well as the police, and the special forces, such as the Afghan Air Force. So, with the Afghan Air Force and the special forces, DOD has advisors typically embedded with those forces, and so therefore has a direct line of sight into the operation and maintenance of the equipment. With the conventional forces and the police forces, DOD does not have advisors on the ground currently that can provide information directly to DOD about the use of that equipment. So, for some of the equipment we looked at, the MD-530 helicopters, for example, because those are operated and maintained by the Afghan Air Force, DOD does have a lot of information about how that equipment's being used and any capability gaps that there might be. With the Mobile Strike Force Vehicles, it's an interesting example, because initially most of the strike force vehicles were provided to the conventional forces and DOD had limited information on how those were being used and maintained. Some of those Mobile Strike Force Vehicles have now been transferred to the special forces, and so they now have more information on how those are being maintained and used. [ Matt Oldham: ] So, with the information that the Department of Defense does have with this equipment, are they aware of any issues with the use and maintenance of this U.S.-purchased of equipment in Afghanistan? [ Jessica Farb: ] In a broad sense, DOD's very aware of some of the capability gaps that the Afghan's face when it comes to operating and maintaining this equipment. They're very aware of the environment in which they're operating in Afghanistan. The government does not have the institutional capacity, in some cases, to provide things like a supply chain for spare parts. In some cases, given the complexity of the equipment, literacy is an issue for some of the afghan forces. And in terms of the equipment we looked at, DOD noted some challenges with operating both the MD-530 helicopters as well as the Mobile Strike Force Vehicles. And they note that Afghan forces are currently not capable of maintaining or operating those independently of DOD's contractor support. [ Matt Oldham: ] Why are capability gaps important? [ Jessica Farb: ] So, the lack of insight on the capability gaps for DOD is important because we've, as you've noted, we've spent billions of dollars and 17 years on this mission and the lack of insight doesn't ensure that the DOD is providing the right types of equipment to the Afghan security forces to help them in their fight. [ Matt Oldham: ] So, what is the Department of Defense currently doing about this? [ Jessica Farb: ] So, DOD has taken some steps to try to address these challenges. As of December of last year they developed maintenance strategy contract to cover all the ground vehicles; the Mobile Strike Force Vehicles. And one of the key elements of the contract is that over the five-year lifespan that the Afghans will develop their own capability in terms of maintaining the equipment; will take that process over. The other thing that DOD's been doing is they -- in the last year, they've developed a plan for a new unit that will be embedded with the conventional forces. And with that, they'll be able to obtain more information about the capabilities that these forces have with some of this equipment. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] Matt Oldham: It sounds like the Department of Defense has some challenges to knowing if US-provided equipment is working out for the Afghan forces. In some instances, the Department of Defense is dealing with limited data. So Jess, what did your team recommend? [ Jessica Farb: ] So, we recommended that DOD develop options to collect more reliable and better data on the capability gaps that the Afghan forces face. That could include things like leveraging the new unit that's embedded with the conventional forces to get more information, or helping the Afghanistan government develop a better data collection system that whereby they would be able to provide the information to DOD. [ Matt Oldham: ] Final question, what do you believe is the bottom line of this report? [ Jessica Farb: ] So, given the amount of money spent and the importance of the mission in Afghanistan, DOD really does need to get a handle on the equipment that's being used to ensure it's being used effectively and efficiently. [ Matt Oldham: ] Jess Farb was talking about a GAO report, looking into the state of US-purchased equipment used by Afghan security forces. Thank you for your time, Jess. [ Jessica Farb: ] Thank you. 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