Analysis of Air Force Office of Special Investigations Agents' Knowledge of the Contract Management Process

Abstract

The Department of Defense has an annual budget of approximately $495 billion. With such substantial resources being used to fund supplies, services, and weapons systems, auditability becomes vital to protecting against fraud, waste, and abuse. A hallmark of an auditable organization is competent personnel. To defend against and identify procurement fraud, a competent workforce must include both acquisition personnel and procurement fraud investigators. The purpose of this research is to assess the Air Force Office of Special Investigation's procurement fraud agents knowledge of the contract management process and procurement fraud schemes, as well as evaluate their perceptions of knowledge in these areas. This research used an online assessment tool. Results from the assessment indicate that, despite having a high perception of knowledge, procurement fraud agents generally scored low in each of the knowledge-based question categories. Based on the results of the analysis, the research presents recommendations and areas for further research. The Department of Defense has an annual budget of approximately $495 billion. With such substantial resources being used to fund supplies, services, and weapons systems, auditability becomes vital to protecting against fraud, waste, and abuse. A hallmark of an auditable organization is competent personnel. To defend against and identify procurement fraud, a competent workforce must include both acquisition personnel and procurement fraud investigators. The purpose of this research is to assess the Air Force Office of Special Investigation's procurement fraud agents knowledge of the contract management process and procurement fraud schemes, as well as evaluate their perceptions of knowledge in these areas. This research used an online assessment tool. Results from the assessment indicate that, despite having a high perception of knowledge, procurement fraud agents generally scored low in each of the knowledge-based question categories. Based on the results of the analysis, the research presents recommendations and areas for further research. The Department of Defense has an annual budget of approximately $495 billion. With such substantial resources being used to fund supplies, services, and weapons systems, auditability becomes vital to protecting against fraud, waste, and abuse. A hallmark of an auditable organization is competent personnel. To defend against and identify procurement fraud, a competent workforce must include both acquisition personnel and procurement fraud investigators. The purpose of this research is to assess the Air Force Office of Special Investigation's procurement fraud agents knowledge of the contract management process and procurement fraud schemes, as well as evaluate their perceptions of knowledge in these areas. This research used an online assessment tool. Results from the assessment indicate that, despite having a high perception of knowledge, procurement fraud agents generally scored low in each of the knowledge-based question categories. Based on the results of the analysis, the research presents recommendations and areas for further research.