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GAO report: Pentagon sold F-14 parts

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published August 2, 2007

REPORT: The Defense Department has improved security in its surplus program to prevent improper sales of sensitive items, says the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

BUT: Investigators found that roughly 1,400 parts that could be used on F-14 "Tomcat" fighter jets were sold to the public in February. That came after the Pentagon announced in January it had suspended sales of all parts that could be used on the Tomcat while it reviewed security concerns.

WHY IT MATTERS: The F-14 is flown only by Iran, which is aggressively seeking components from the retired U.S. Tomcat fleet. If the parts were publicly available, national security could be endangered, wrote Greg Kutz, the GAO's managing director of special investigations. Iran has managed to obtain U.S. spares in the past, he said.

WHY IT HAPPENED: The Pentagon's surplus sales division - the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service - told investigators the parts were sold because it failed to update an automated control list and remove the aircraft parts before they were listed on its Internet sales site.

OTHER SENSITIVE ITEMS: The congressional investigators also looked at sensitive military leftovers in general that were supposed to be destroyed rather than sold in Pentagon surplus auctions. In the first month of their inquiry, last September, they found the Pentagon had sold 295 items to the public that were supposed to be destroyed. But after that, though several items that were supposed to be destroyed were posted on the surplus Web site as for sale, they were spotted and removed before they were sold, the report said.

[Last modified August 2, 2007, 01:38:03]