Management and accounting of Government-furnished property in today's Army acquisition programs

Abstract

One area of Government acquisition which has recently received special attention from Congress and the Department of Defense is the management and accounting for Government-Furnished Property. This facet of Government acquisition is also under great scrutiny as an entire Process Action Team was assigned to examine and make recommendations for the Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 45 Rewrite Tea established by the Director, Defense Procurement, Eleanor Spector. Government-Furnished Property was also debated during the recent 1995 Defense Acquisition Research Symposium. The intent of this thesis is to understand why Government-Furnished Property is used, how the use of Government-Furnished Property can assist an Army Program Manager save in costs and operate more effectively, and document needed changes to current regulations. Twelve separate recommendations are presented which highlight changes to existing regulations, policies, oversight, and staffing. The focus of the research was to visit and survey Army acquisition agencies and their Defense contractors to document their current concerns and comments for the use of Government-Furnished Property in their specific programs. (AN)