Problems cited in Iraq interpreter contract - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Problems cited in Iraq interpreter contract

WASHINGTON — A company with a $4.6 billion contract to supply U.S. forces in Iraq with Arabic-speaking translators received a scathing review on Wednesday from government officials, another potential setback in the government’s troubled efforts to find steady numbers of translators for troops in foreign war zones.

A government audit of the firm described tens of millions of dollars in questionable costs and poor management.

The company, Global Linguist Solutions, has not been replaced because there isn’t another company readily available to provide the linguists even as the U.S. presence in Iraq is winding down, government officials said at a hearing held Wednesday by the independent Commission on Wartime Contracting.

John Isgrigg, deputy director of contracting at the Army Intelligence and Security Command, said that auditors who went to Iraq to examine the company’s performance found about $5 million being spent on three-bedroom apartments and automobile for individual contractor employees.

At the same time, the company was slow getting linguists into Iraq, said.

Interpreters are critical links between U.S. troops and foreign populations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. At times during the American involvement in Iraq, the U.S. experienced shortages among translators to aid American troops.

John Houck, the company’s general manager, defended the company’s performance, saying that more than 9,000 interpreters are working in Iraq and other Middle East countries. He said greater communication between customer and contractor would likely resolve most of the problems.

Isgrigg acknowledged that too few government personnel were assigned to manage and watch over the contract, which he referred to as a “monster.”

Isgrigg said Global Logistics Solutions initially struggled to meet the heavy demands, leading to a dispute over how the company was spending the money. He added that negotiations with GLS to cut the cost of contract’s first installment by about $225 million were “extremely contentious.”

Isgrigg said he and other government officials believe GLS “lost control of their subcontractors and associated costs due to their business practices and management decisions.”

He also criticized GLS management for a “media campaign” to convince U.S. authorities in Iraq that the salaries of linguists would have to be slashed because the command was reducing the value of the contract.

Houck denied there was a media campaign. But he did say “individuals that were employed by GLS” did talk to military officials.