[Milsurplus] Pentagon Limits Gear in Surplus Auctions

[Edward J White]

Pentagon Limits Gear in Surplus Auctions
Associated Press  |  April 13, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Defense Department's effort to block Iran from obtaining 
much-needed hardware for its fleet of F-14 Tomcat fighter jets has led the 
military to pull far more than parts from F-14s out of its surplus auctions.

The Pentagon's retired F-14s contain roughly 76,000 components. Many of 
those parts are usable on other planes and until this year, were sold by the 
military on the surplus market.

The Defense Department in January halted the sale of all parts from its 
Tomcats. On Thursday, it disclosed that the suspension went far beyond items 
from F-14s, and actually sweeps in 163,000 types of components, including 
parts from other planes and any support equipment that could be used in 
connection with Tomcats.

"You're talking about things like the nuts and bolts ... to military-unique 
and -specific things, to ground equipment, to igniters and engine parts," 
said Dawn Dearden, spokeswoman for the Defense Logistics Agency, or DLA.

"We want to make sure that we're doing the prudent thing here, we want to 
make sure that we hold onto everything that could be used on the F-14," she 
said.

The Defense Department stopped the surplus parts sales temporarily as it 
reviews whether they would endanger national security. Law enforcement 
experts say Iran is aggressively seeking parts for its Tomcats, the jets 
made famous by actor Tom Cruise in the movie "Top Gun."

Iran received U.S. permission to buy the fighter jets in the 1970s when it 
was an ally and now is the only country known to be trying to keep F-14s 
airworthy. The United States retired its Tomcats last year.

The Pentagon surplus security review will likely be completed this year, 
Dearden said.

The review comes as legislation moves through Congress that would 
permanently ban the sale of surplus F-14 parts. The bill, sponsored in the 
House by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-N.M., and the Senate by Oregon Democrat 
Ron Wyden, cleared a House committee and needs review by one more before 
going to the full House and then the Senate.

The bill was first proposed by Wyden in January after The Associated Press 
reported that middlemen for countries including Iran and China had exploited 
weaknesses in Pentagon surplus sale security to obtain sensitive military 
equipment. The gear included missile components and parts for Tomcats and 
other aircraft. Law enforcement officials are aware of at least one case in 
which a surplus purchase made it to Iran.

"The new development, when we're talking about this range of parts, this is 
an incredible number," Wyden said Thursday in an interview, adding that it 
makes him wonder what else other countries are acquiring through the 
military's surplus sales.

"I think the first thing the Pentagon ought to do is support our legislation 
to make this a permanent ban," he said, referring to F-14 part sales. "And 
when the ink is dry on that, they ought to get out there and take a look at 
the other areas."

The Pentagon had planned to sell thousands of spare F-14 parts that could be 
used on multiple types of aircraft, but after the AP's report, suspended the 
sales while it conducts a security review of the jet components. It had 
previously decided to destroy at least 10,000 Tomcat-specific components.

Government Liquidation, the contractor that handles surplus sales for the 
Pentagon, sent Wyden a letter this week endorsing the legislation, known as 
the "Stop Arming Iran Act."

"Like you, we feel that no sensitive military equipment should reach Iran," 
Anthony Humpage, a company executive vice president, wrote Wyden.

Liquidity Services, Government Liquidation's parent, took in about $84 
million in the last budget year from its Pentagon surplus business. Its 
surplus contract expires next year.

Last summer, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of 
Congress, reported that its undercover review found numerous gaps in surplus 
sale security. GAO agents bought $1 million worth of sensitive gear, 
including rocket launchers, by driving onto a base and posing as defense 
contractors. They used a fake identity to access the Government Liquidation 
Web site and buy still more, including microcircuits used on F-14s.

Following that report, Government Liquidation took steps at the Pentagon's 
request to establish new inventory controls aimed at stopping sensitive 
items from slipping into surplus sales, the company says.

"Before, all our responsibility was was to sell things. Now we scan 
everything that we receive, run it against two DLA databases and our own 
buzzwords list to make sure that we don't even offer up anything on our Web 
site," Humpage said in an interview. The Pentagon, meanwhile, is "trying 
hard not to give us things they shouldn't," he added.