Story Archive

Study Haul

The U.S. Department of Defense commissions so many studies, the Pentagon is “awash in taskings for reports and studies,” said Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Therefore, in 2010 he demanded — yes — a study to figure out how much all those studies cost. After two years of work the final tally still isn’t in, so Congress has (sure enough!) asked the Government Accountability Office to study whether the Pentagon’s study was truly effective. The GAO found the Pentagon had only studied nine studies in that two years, and their “approach is not fully consistent with relevant cost estimating best practices and cost accounting standards,” for instance by not including the cost of manpower in their reports. (RC/ABC News) ...But they’re not going to change anything until they get the results of a new study.