Corker: If Pentagon can turn entire countries into craters why can't it audit itself?

https://www.militarytimes.com/congress/2018/03/07/corker-if-pentagon-can-turn-entire-countries-into-craters-why-cant-it-audit-itself/

Corker: If Pentagon can ‘turn entire countries into craters’ why can't it audit itself?
 13 hours ago

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Corker on Wednesday questioned why the Defense Department can “turn entire countries into craters” but has yet to audit itself. “We all watch us kill people remotely in Mosul and other places, people far away, commanding drones. It’s remarkable we can do something like that. DoD has the capacity to turn entire countries into craters, has all kinds of cyber capabilities,” said Corker, R-Tenn.
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A comprehensive Pentagon audit is underway for the first time, even though Congress first legislated the requirement in 1990. The annual defense policy law for 2014 mandated the audit begin in 2018. The audit is likely to be the largest audit ever, comprising 24 stand-alone audits and involving 1,200 auditors, Norquist said in written remarks. It has been budgeted at $367 million for fiscal 2018, but Norquist defended the cost.

“How in the world is it, in 2018, with all the massive capabilities that the Pentagon has, this is the first time the Pentagon has been able to conduct an audit? What is going on with the culture at the Pentagon, Mr. Norquist?” Corker said.

Norquist said he shared Corker’s concerns, adding that the Trump administration, “made starting the audit right away critical.”

Corker cut him off: “Just what’s going on with culture? How in the world can it be that the biggest, greatest fighting entity in the world cannot audit itself until 2018? What’s wrong?”
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When Norquist credited Congress for pressing the Pentagon to audit itself, Corker interjected again: “I don’t care about Congress. The fact is that we have probably wasted hundreds of billions of dollars through the years through poor management. Is that correct? That would be a low estimate, would it not?”

Norquist did not reply, but auditors have found that the Defense Logistics Agency misidentified $465 million of construction projects, that the Army had failed to record 39 Black Hawk helicopters in its property system and that the Air Force failed to record 478 buildings and structures at 12 installations in its property system
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