The Department of Defense’s office of the inspector general has concluded that the department has failed to comply with the requirements of end-use monitoring as it relates to military aid to Ukraine, even though its efforts have improved.
The DOD OIG released a report — Evaluation of the DoD’s Enhanced End-Use Monitoring of Defense Articles Provided to Ukraine — on Monday, and one main conclusion was that as of June 2, 2023, more than $1 billion (59%) of the total nearly $1.7 billion of enhanced end-use monitoring-designated equipment was delinquent.
High rates of delinquency “may correlate with an inability to maintain complete accountability” and “may increase the risk of theft or diversion.”
“While there has been significant improvement in the delinquency rate for inventorying this sensitive equipment, persistent gaps as identified in our evaluation may correlate with an inability to maintain complete accountability for this critical U.S. security assistance,” Inspector General Robert Storch said, adding, “as our evaluation was focused on the DoD’s compliance with its EEUM requirements, it was beyond the scope of this project to determine whether there has been diversion of that assistance. The DoD OIG now has personnel stationed in country, and our Defense Criminal Investigative Service continues to investigate allegations of criminal conduct with regard to U.S. security assistance.”
The inspector general’s office recommended proving the inventory procedures for EEUM-designated defense articles; coordinating with the State Department to improve visibility of third-party transfers of EEUM-designated defense articles prior to transfer; establishing procedures sufficient to meet the requirement for serialized delivery records in advance of transferring EEUM articles to a hostile environment; and developing internal controls and updating the DSCA’s Security Assistance Management Manual.
The IG’s report also noted that evaluating whether any U.S. aid had been diverted “was beyond the scope of our investigation.”
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This report comes as President Joe Biden and his administration are urging Congress to pass a supplemental spending package that would allocate more than $60 billion to Ukraine. The Pentagon is no longer able to provide military aid to Ukraine because the U.S. has no funds left to replace weapons sent to Ukraine.
“We’re out of money,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters last week.