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Department of the Air Force: Unauthorized Activity Codes Used to Requisition New and Excess DOD Property

GAO-01-196R Published: Jan 08, 2001. Publicly Released: Feb 07, 2001.
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Highlights

 

GAO examined the military's inventory management activities to determine if activity codes identified as unauthorized to requisition had been used to buy property for the Air Force. GAO found that as of June 2000, the Air Force maintained 4,239 activity codes identified as unauthorized to requisition government property. However, during the last five years, 193 of these codes were inappropriately used to requisition nearly $23 million in new and excess government property. In addition, safeguards established to prevent unauthorized activity codes from being used to requisition government property failed. This situation has created a condition in which government property is vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse.

 

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Air Force to verify whether the requisitioning authority for all Air Force activity codes is categorized accurately and review procedures to ensure that activity code assignments are appropriate, made in accordance with Air Force Instruction 24-230, and routinely inspected to ensure compliance.
Closed – Implemented
The Air Force has implemented an automated edit causing rejection of unauthorized "FY" requisitions and has reemphasized the requirement to validate activity address codes against the Defense Automatic Addressing System Center master file and confirm that its codes are properly categorized. The Air Force will rescind Air Force Instruction 24-230 and replace it with a new instruction that will clarify responsibilities and policy regarding the establishment, use, and maintenance of Air Force activity codes. The Air Force also will reemphasize the appropriate use of "FA" and "JM" accounts (for administrative purposes and to order National Imaging and Mapping Agency maps and charts, respectively) to its major commands.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Air Force to evaluate current safeguards in appropriate databases to ensure that unauthorized activity codes are not used to requisition government property.
Closed – Not Implemented
The issue of safeguards in appropriate databases to ensure that non-requisitioning activity address codes are not used to requisition government property was considered at a conference sponsored by the Defense Logistics Management Systems Office in March 2001. The Defense Logistics Agency is reviewing how it establishes and controls activity codes and is redesigning its activity code database to eliminate this weakness. Estimated completion date is December 2005.

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Topics

Government Operations
Air Force procurementFederal agency accounting systemsInternal controlsInventory control systemsLogisticsMilitary forcesSurplus propertyInternational relationsInstructionFraud, Waste and Abuse