DoD not able to account for 61% of assets according to recent audit

[MechAg94]

https://fism.tv/dod-not-able-to-account-for-61-of-assets-according-to-recent-audit/

The Department of Defense (DoD) has flunked its fifth consecutive audit according to a recently released financial report conducted by 1,600 auditors.

The reason that the DoD failed this year? It was unable to account for 61% of its 3.5 trillion dollars’ worth of assets.

The Department said it had $278.7 billion more in assets when compared to FY 2021. Most of this increase came in the form of investments, and more specifically these were “investments in securities issued by the Treasury.”

The DoD is buying Treasury securities? 

Auditors made 220 site visits and 750 virtual visits and assessed $3.5 trillion in assets and $3.7 trillion in liabilities. The conclusive report found, among other things, inefficient processes in tracking and valuing its assets. This particularly affected assets related to equipment and operations.

Are any of you familiar with these audits?  Does the DoD make it difficult to document disposal of expended weapons and broken/out of service equipment?  If it is like the maintenance offices I have been around, the people who would log the use of parts and equipment are let go and no one maintains the records since they need it now and they will deal with the paperwork later (later never happens).

[HankB]

Well, there's about 80 or 90 billion dollars worth of stuff we abandoned in Afghanistan . . .

More seriously, some stuff is pilfered of course (sometimes by general officers) but most of it is probably paperwork. I've seen this sort of thing (on a MUCH smaller scale, of course) in a big corporation - someone who's been diligent in documenting stuff retires, quits, or is laid off, and nobody is assigned to fill the now empty slot - in fact, often the slot itself is eliminated. And a year or two later there's some kind of audit - assets, regulatory, safety, whatever - and suddenly the paperwork isn't there. Since the top brass assigned NOBODY to do the work, and NOBODY gets credit for doing "non value added" paperwork they weren't assigned, the paperwork didn't get done.

BUT THEY NEED IT!! NOW!!!

Much hilarity ensues.

[230RN]

It's just an accounting error due to Covidtrumpitis.

Whatever happened to the audit of the United States' gold reserves?  That was before covidtrumipitis, so it would have to be clean and pure and noble and swathed in goodness and righteousness, right?

[K Frame]

"The reason that the DoD failed this year? It was unable to account for 61% of its 3.5 trillion dollars’ worth of assets."

Have they checked Afghanistan and Ukraine?

[WLJ]

The assets did not steal themselves

[Lennyjoe]

Surprised? No.

Seen plenty of parts/material wasted on the commercial side of military programs and not properly documented in the past.

Was a little more stringent on the uniform side, at least in the Air Force anyway.

[Ben]

https://youtu.be/G8FfCOXRou8

[MechAg94]

Well, there's about 80 or 90 billion dollars worth of stuff we abandoned in Afghanistan . . .

More seriously, some stuff is pilfered of course (sometimes by general officers) but most of it is probably paperwork. I've seen this sort of thing (on a MUCH smaller scale, of course) in a big corporation - someone who's been diligent in documenting stuff retires, quits, or is laid off, and nobody is assigned to fill the now empty slot - in fact, often the slot itself is eliminated. And a year or two later there's some kind of audit - assets, regulatory, safety, whatever - and suddenly the paperwork isn't there. Since the top brass assigned NOBODY to do the work, and NOBODY gets credit for doing "non value added" paperwork they weren't assigned, the paperwork didn't get done.

BUT THEY NEED IT!! NOW!!!

Much hilarity ensues.

I can think of at least one circumstance where that happened in my area a few years ago. 

I have also see where management decides things need to be cleaned up and everything that does not explicitly have an inventory number is removed and thrown in a dumpster.  They don't bother to inform anyone in the area they are doing this who might be able to identify "unknown" stuff.  Later everyone finds out that all sorts of good parts and spares were thrown away because no one knew what inventory number they were supposed to have. 

[dogmush]

And yet, I'm being raked over the coals and churning out memos for $300 in diesel that was purchased before I took over this command......

[MechAg94]

Marine Corps passes its audit, the first military branch to do so
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-corps-audit-military-finances/?utm_term=Task%26Purpose_Today_02.26.24&utm_campaign=Task%20%26%20Purpose_TPToday_Actives_Dynamic&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email

The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General announced on Friday that the Marine Corps received an unmodified opinion on its two-year audit. In the Office of Inspector General’s own works, auditors “obtained sufficient, appropriate audit evidence to determine that the financial statements present fairly the financial position and results of operations.” All was accounted for. The audit, which can be read here, looked at $46.3 billion in assets.

[Angel Eyes]

Marine Corps passes its audit, the first military branch to do so

To be fair, they don't have that much stuff to begin with ...

[K Frame]

Why do I suspect that a lot of those assets were "donated" to the Taliban in Biden's "FEET DON'T FAIL ME NOW!" bug out from Afghanistan?

[dogmush]

Guaranteed though that I will be required to turn in my woodland camo Field jacket and ALICE canteen covers when I retire in 2034.  Or pay for them.

[Ben]

Guaranteed though that I will be required to turn in my woodland camo Field jacket and ALICE canteen covers when I retire in 2034.  Or pay for them.

I guess the days of shipping a jeep back home are over, then? 

https://youtu.be/G8FfCOXRou8

[K Frame]

"I guess the days of shipping a jeep back home are over, then?"

See my comment about the Taliban.

[dogmush]

I guess the days of shipping a jeep back home are over, then? 

https://youtu.be/G8FfCOXRou8

I may or may not have some stories related to that from the 2014-2015 Iraq drawdown.  Some of the hypothetical stories end with CID.  The key, as it always has been, is to make sure you aren't the one signed for the jeep you are shipping.

[Ben]

I may or may not have some stories related to that from the 2014-2015 Iraq drawdown.  Some of the hypothetical stories end with CID.  The key, as it always has been, is to make sure you aren't the one signed for the jeep you are shipping.

On the civilian side, when we went all envir,o and surplus computer and electronic equipment would be labeled "e-waste", there was this nebulous grey area between the back of the Suburban, the pavement where stuff was set down at the recycler, and the hands of the recycling center flunky, where the "trash" would sometimes vanish. So I'm told.