Pentagon Waste: Could Billions Have Been Saved Through Smarter Ordering System?

June 10, 2010— -- There is no question that with the United States involved in two wars, the troops need lots of equipment and plenty of spare parts to keep things running.

That is where the Pentagon's Defense Logistics Agency comes in. It is the DLA's job to manage and buy huge amounts of spare parts to make certain that the military is ready and operating.

However, a new report from the Government Accounting Office found that the agency is ordering so many supplies, it is leading to tremendous waste. The DLA has bought billions of dollars worth of equipment at taxpayer expense that is not even needed by the military.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, is outraged by the spending.

"The Pentagon is wasting an enormous amount of money. In this case it's the Defense Logistics Agency," he told ABC News. "They have $13 billion in inventory [...] $7 billion of that is spare parts they don't need."

That's right, $7 billion in spare parts -- a full half of the inventory -- won't be needed by the military, leaving warehouses stuffed with brand new equipment that is simply gathering dust.

For example, the DLA purchased 230 aircraft access covers used when repairing the B1 bomber.

At $3,900 a piece, that order adds up to $897,000. But the agency found out that only 35 would be needed, too late to save taxpayers some $760,000.

Then, there's a part used on the MRAP mine-resistant armored vehicles, which are so important for troops on the ground.

In Feb. 2009, the DLA bought 1,200 winches for the vehicles, which were delivered in May of that year. In the interim, forecasted demand for the item dropped from 51 per month to just six per month. Using the new rate of demand, the inventory would last for 20 years. If they had changed the order based on the adjusted demand rate, the agency could have saved $691,000.