Lawmakers Grill Defense Officials on Equipment-Transfer Program

The Defense Logistics Agency, an agency within the Department of Defense that was recently found to have weaknesses in its equipment-transfer program, is suspending all federal transfers of excess military gear to agencies until they comply with new registration measures, said Mike Cannon, the director of DLA Disposition Services, during a House Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday.

Cannon and Mike Scott, the deputy director of logistics operations at the DLA, testified, published earlier this month, that revealed that the Law Enforcement Support Office, which is managed by the DLA, distributed “over 100 controlled items with an estimated value of $1.2 million” to a fictitious federal law enforcement agency created by the GAO during its review. Zina Merritt, a director in the Government Accountability Office’s Defense Capabilities and Management team, and Wayne McElrath, GAO’s director of investigation also testified.