The Pentagon’s Spare Parts Problem

As budget hawks continue their attack on spending cuts around the country, it might be useful to look at the Pentagon after a report released Thursday claimed that at least $7 billion in taxpayer funds is being wasted on purchases of spare parts that the military ends up not needing.

The Pentagon’s 2010 budget of $663.8 billion is more than seven times the combined military budgets of the next 14 ranking nations. —JCL

Reuters:

A Pentagon agency buys over $7 billion worth of spare parts every year the Defense Department ends up not needing, a practice one senator decried as an “unbelievable” waste of taxpayer money.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a new report released on Thursday that the Defense Logistics Agency had no use for parts worth $7.1 billion, more than half of the $13.7 billion in equipment stacked in Defense Department warehouses on average from 2006 to 2008.

“The waste of taxpayer dollars is unbelievable,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent and Senate Budget Committee member who requested the study.

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The Pentagon’s budget has continued to grow even as funding for things like education, health care, environmental protection and other vital services has shrunk.