By NICK SCHWELLENBACH
You may have seen our latest release on a leaked Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) audit report this morning by now, but if you haven't, check it out. In sum, Boeing massively overcharged the Army and thus taxpayers for spare parts used on Army helicopters. The overcharges are even more stunning when compared to the prices for the same parts that could have been procured from the Defense Department's already-purchased spare parts inventory. In one case, Boeing charged more than 177,000 percent what it would have cost to buy the same part from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).
The parts are things such as sleeve bushings, straight metal pins, spur gears, nut and bolt retainers, and linear electro mechanical actuators. "A linear electro what??" you ask. Exactly. For most people, these items are not normal household items, although they may be mundane and familiar to mechanics. Yet most of the spare parts detailed in the DoD OIG report are cheap—and comparable in price to things with which the American public is familiar.
I asked POGO staffers for things they thought you could purchase for the prices taxpayers should have been charged for some of the spare parts Boeing delivered.
The cost of a straight metal pin: Boeing charged $71.01 when the item was available in a DoD warehouse for four cents.
Four cents roughly equals the cost of one after-dinner mint or a tooth pick within an entire box. Imagine paying $71.01 to freshen up your breath…
