Contractors, the Army's Neglected Stepchildren

Denett said the administration is pushing an intern program, designed to pull in young people with business degrees, because "we are keenly aware that we have to compete for the new talent pool."

Nine departments have recruited about 1,200 interns, and other agencies are joining the program. He hopes the program will add about 500 to 600 interns a year.

The program may be critical to offsetting a wave of retirements in the acquisition workforce. Of contracting officers eligible to retire, 52 percent said they would leave in the next 10 years, the survey found.

According to the OMB, the number of contracting officers in the government, not counting military contracting officers, was 27,621 in June.

To improve training, the OMB has developed certification programs for contracting officers and program managers for all non-defense agencies. It is the first time that the agencies have started to provide common training, education and development standards, the OMB said.

There's little argument that training is increasingly crucial for contracting officers. Procurements are more complex and require more management oversight for longer periods.

The study by the Gansler commission found that a lack of training probably contributed to contract fraud and abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. The report also pointed out that only 38 percent of the Army acquisition and contracting workforce in the combat theater are certified for the positions they hold.

Like many agencies, some of the Army's contracting problems have been caused by downsizing. In 1990, the Army had about 10,000 people in contracting. Today, it has 5,821. Most are civil service employees -- 5,563, according to the report.

Relatively few are on the ground in or near the war zone. According to the commission's report, the Army has 58 military personnel and 20 civilians serving in contracting positions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.

The civil service employees, in particular, appear to be underappreciated, the report indicated. They volunteer for deployment, but, unlike military personnel, they do not get favored tax treatment on their salaries and they lack long-term medical benefits comparable to the military.

The commission repeatedly heard that there are no general officers responsible for Army contracting and recommended that two major generals and three brigadier generals be named to head contracting commands to strengthen leadership and create accountability.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said he was dismayed by the report's findings, but said "one of the things that clearly is going to have to be addressed in all the services is whether they have enough uniformed officers in contracting."

He added that "one of the lessons that I took away from the report is the need for all of the services, but especially the Army, to focus on rebuilding contracting as an attractive career path."

Stephen Barr's e-mail address isbarrs@washpost.com.