Inquiry Letter: Disposition of U.S.-Owned Excess Equipment in Afghanistan

I am writing you about the Department of Defenses ongoing effort to dispose of excess equipment at U.S. military bases in Afghanistan.1 During a trip to Afghanistan earlier this year, I visited several military bases where I observed firsthand how the U.S. military organized and sorted excess equipment into lots for return to the United States, turnover to the Afghans, or in many cases, destruction into scrap metal. A recent Washington Post article indicated that equipment acquired at a cost of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars is now being resold to Afghan merchants for a fraction of its original cost.2 In addition, GAO reported in December 2012 that DOD was unable to fully document how decisions regarding disposal of U.S. equipment in Afghanistan were made.3 GAO noted the primary disposal options for U.S. equipment: destroy the equipment in country; transfer the equipment to other DOD locations; or transfer the equipment to another U.S. agency or another country. None of the military services were able to provide GAO with documentation of the cost-benefit analyses used to make its decisions. According to a new GAO report DOD has taken some actions to address this finding by issuing guidance requiring cost comparisons to determine whether certain U.S. equipment in Afghanistan should be returned.4