(Graphic by Code and Dagger. Original photo by Tech. Sgt. Matt Hecht via DVIDS.)
The U.S. Pentagon'’s official watchdog is taking military officials in Africa to task for not keeping proper track of equipment given to friendly nations as required, including high-value items like night vision goggles.
In a report published Wednesday, the Pentagon’s Inspector General said military “Security Cooperation Officers” stationed at embassies on the continent “did not fully account for equipment” and “did not perform routine and enhanced EUM [end-use monitoring]” of equipment given to several African militaries. The “enhanced” part of that monitoring is reserved for articles the military says it needs to keep a closer eye on, like “night vision devices (NVDs), missiles, and unmanned aerial systems.”
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“As a result, the DSCA [Defense Security Cooperation Agency] does not have an accurate, readily available inventory of all equipment in the possession of USAFRICOM partner nations,” the report [PDF] says. “Without reliable records, the enhanced EUM-designated equipment is more susceptible to loss, theft, misuse, or diversion.”
The inspector general investigators found that in the deals they audited, officials failed to account for the transfer of more than 100,000 pieces of equipment, including 221 pieces of equipment that required the enhanced tracking.
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The report said that while it didn’t find any specific examples, it would be possible for the African governments to “transfer equipment that was provided to support a specific U.S. Government objective to an opposing force.”
The loss of American equipment to such opposing forces came in stark relief in Southwest Asia in 2019 when the United Nations reported that the Taliban had acquired a startling number of its own night vision devices — both on the black market and captured from Afghan forces that had been supplied by the U.S.
A Pentagon inspector general report from 2018 said the U.S. military was unable to account for some 1,000 night vision devices that had been given to Afghan forces, according to Military Times.
In response to the latest report, top officials in Africa Command and the DSCA said they would work to mitigate the tracking issues, but some of the inspector general’s suggestions wouldn’t work.
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