The Department of Defense (DOD) spent $331,456,507,052 on roughly 3,288 publicly-disclosed contracts during 2013
Look for trends in this data. Discover where U.S. tax dollars are spent. For example, notice the large portion of money that corporations receive from maintenance contracts. Observe how many contracts are not bid on competitively, especially those pertaining to the Joint Strike Fighter and cyberspace. Scour the construction contracts in order to see where the Pentagon is building its infrastructure. The data is yours.
The contracts are arranged according to the following topics:
Unmanned Systems, Salient Contracts, Missiles, Rockets, and Bombs (PDF)
Foreign Military Sales, Gear and Equipment (PDF)
Space, Cyber and Information Technology (PDF)
Aircraft and Naval Contracts (PDF)
Construction, Environment and Base Support (PDF)
Fuel, Food, Transportation and Healthcare (PDF)
DOD’s declared budget was approximately $673 billion for 2013. The discrepancy between our figures and DOD’s arises when one considers wages, BAH, entitlements, allowances and retiree pay for the U.S. Armed Forces are not factored into daily contract announcements, and contracts under $6.5 million are not disclosed publicly.
To avoid competitive bidding, DOD often invokes 10 U.S.C. 2304 and FAR 6.302, wherein the supplies or services are available from “only one responsible source” and/or no other supplier will satisfy DOD’s requirements. DOD also invokes 15 U.S.C. 638 to avoid competitive bidding when dealing with small businesses.
DOD annotated some 2013 contracts with the following stamps: Small Business; Small Business in HUBZone; Small Disadvantaged Business; Woman Owned Small Business; Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business; and Small Disadvantaged Woman Owned Business.
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*Editing consolidated similar contracts. Italics indicate notes from the editor.
**Any clerical errors are the editor’s alone. Each month, Boiling Frogs Post presents a distillation of the previous month’s DOD Contracts. Check back regularly.
Christian Sorensen, a BFP Contributing Author & Analyst, is a U.S. military veteran. His writing has been featured in CounterPunch and Media Roots.