Defense Inventory: Most Excess Property in Panama Was Disposed of Properly, but Some Control Weaknesses Existed

The Panama Canal Treaty called for the United States to transfer control over the Panama Canal to Panama and withdraw U.S. military forces and equipment from Panama. The treaty allowed the U.S. government to remove or dispose of all equipment and supplies acquired by U.S. forces. U.S. plans for withdrawal from Panama required excess property to be processed using disposal procedures that gave the military services and the federal agencies the first opportunity to receive the property. During 1998 and 1999, the Department of Defense's (DOD) Panama disposal office processed excess property valued at $136.7 million. Of this amount, $691,000 worth of property (less than one percent) was unaccounted for during this period. Disposal office records show that the property was written off as lost. DOD recognizes the need to properly manage and account for its assets and is working on a long-term strategy to provide in-transit control and visibility over excess property through information technology. DOD also has developed a new lesson segment for training its personnel on control procedures, but it has not taken adequate steps to ensure that the appropriate field personnel have received the training.