A Review of Alternative Methods to Inventory Contracted Services in the Department of Defense

Abstract

Title 10, Section 2330a, of the U.S. Code requires the Secretary of Defense to "submit to Congress an annual inventory of the activities performed during the preceding fiscal year pursuant to contracts for services."Persistent concerns regarding both the methods for collecting these data in the Inventory of Contracted Services (ICS) and the utility of the data led the conferees for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 to direct the Secretary of Defense to examine the approach that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is taking to comply with this statutory requirement. Congress directed the Secretary of Defense, as part of this examination, to determine whether the ICS produced by the DoD enhances oversight of contracting activities and to submit a report to the congressional defense committees explaining the results of that examination, outlining efforts to better manage contractor and civilian personnel costs within the DoD, and outlining potential alternative methods of meeting ICS requirements. To assist the Secretary of Defense in making this determination, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs asked the RAND Corporation to conduct the mandated research. This final report builds on an interim report delivered in advance of the March 1, 2016, deadline for reporting to Congress. It should be of interest to policymakers concerned with DoD purchases of services as well as to DoD officials charged with ensuring better oversight of purchased services. This research was sponsored by the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs and conducted within the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community. For more information on the RAND Forces and Resources Policy Center, see www.rand.org/nsrd/ndri/centers/frp.html or contact the director (contact information is provided on the webpage).