Analysis of Air Force Office of Special Investigations Agents' Knowledge of the Contract Management Process

Abstract

The Department of Defense has an annual budget of approximately $495 billion. With so much fiscal resources being spent on supplies, services, and weapons systems, auditability becomes vital to protecting against fraud, waste, and abuse. One of the main components that make an organization auditable is competent personnel. To defend against and identify procurement fraud, a competent workforce must include both acquisition personnel as well as procurement fraud investigators. The purpose of this research was to assess the Air Force Office of Special Investigationﾒs procurement fraud agentsﾒ knowledge of the contract management process and procurement fraud schemes, as well as evaluate their perception of knowledge in these areas. To collect knowledge and perception data on procurement fraud agents, the research incorporated the use of an online assessment tool. Results from the assessment indicated that, despite having a high perception of knowledge, agents generally scored low in each of the knowledge-based questions categories on the contract management process. Based on the results of the analysis, implications were identified and recommendations were presented.