Defense & Intelligence Policy, Business and Technology

Mattis: $28 million wasted on Afghan uniforms 'must not be seen as inconsequential'

Military Times: WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Jim Mattis scolded top defense officials for a “complacent” mode of thinking that allowed $28 million to be wasted on Afghan army uniforms that were inappropriate for fighting in Afghanistan.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction exposed the waste in June when it found that the Pentagon’s decision to procure a dark forest-patterned uniform for the Afghan army was incongruous with the country’s largely desert environment. The Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan selected the dark uniform in 2008, SIGAR found, without determining whether it was right for Afghanistan. DoD had purchased more than 1.3 million of these uniforms as of June, SIGAR reported.

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