KBR loses $1 billion and one loyal public servant

Charles M. Smith revealed the incompetency of Kellogg, Brown, and Root (KBR), a contracting company in Iraq, and the failure of the Defense Contract Auditing Agency (DCAA) to remedy the situation. In front of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, Smith, former Chief of the Army Field Support Command Division, said he believes his questioning of KBR led to his termination.

Smith estimates that while he was in charge of the KBR Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) over $1 billion dollars was misappropriated by KBR. The DCAA questioned KBR about cost estimations, and the Department of Defense settled nearly all of these investigations in favor of KBR, said Smith.
In some instances, the government used taxpayer dollars to pay for thousands of meals that troops did not receive. $1 billion was originally estimated for dining facility costs, but the DCAA questioned $200 million of it.

According to Smith, the DCAA was supposed to withhold 15 percent of payments to KBR until KBR reevaluated some its inaccurate cost estimations, Smith said, but the 15 percent withhold was waived and never applied. Soldiers did not receive adequate ice plants in theatre. KBR was supposed to construct the plants according to a set of standards, but failed to meet them.

Smith was told his 31 year career was ended because he was too worn out from the war atmosphere, could not maintain construction according to the cost provisions, and was not meeting Gen. Norman Johnson’s standards. Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-N.D) acknowledged Smith’s years of service and cited the shame of a faithful public servant being fired for such a reason.