The Department of Defense has quickly transported military aid to Ukraine, though there have been lapses in accountability and visibility, according to the department’s inspector general’s office.
In a report published Monday, the inspector general’s office found that United States forces involved in the transportation of weapons to Ukraine did not always confirm quantities of items before transferring them again. Officials evaluated personnel in Jasionka, Poland as the weapons stopped there before continuing east.
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“This report is our first in a body of oversight projects examining the DoD’s security and accountability of defense items transferred to Ukraine,” Inspector General Robert P. Storch said. “While we did not discover any instances where the DoD lost items or transferred excess items, the gaps in accountability we identified could increase the risk of those situations happening in the future.”
Of the five shipments of military aid officials witnessed being transported, three of them took place without relevant personnel filling out the required forms and documentation before they were transferred to the Ukrainians. As a result, the Defense Department would be unable to confirm that the quantities of defense items received in these shipments matched the number shipped to them as required by defense transportation regulations (DTR) and department instructions.
The Office of the Inspector General recommended the under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment provide guidance to military department secretaries and the directors of defense agencies to develop and utilize procures that will ensure troops verify compliance with the regulations. The deputy assistant secretary of defense for materiel readiness, responding on behalf of the under secretary for acquisition and sustainment, said they would put out a memorandum directing personnel to implement procedures to verify compliance.
The report also urged the commander of the Security Assistance Group — Ukraine (SAG-U) to issue operational-level procedures to increase visibility and to ensure personnel do not transfer any individual item that is not accounted for on the shipping manifest, but SAG-U’s deputy chief of staff disagreed with the recommendation, saying only the geographic combatant command could make sure a policy move. The official also said delaying the forward movement of the weapons would “create an extremely high risk.”
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This report exclusively focused on military aid transported to Ukraine via air.
President Joe Biden has provided Ukraine with slightly less than $40 billion in military aid since Russia invaded in February 2022. The Defense Department, State Department, and USAID inspectors general are working together to oversee the aid the U.S. has provided. Some U.S. officials have expressed concern that U.S. weapons could end up in the wrong hands, raising concerns of a similar situation playing out in Ukraine that played out in Afghanistan in 2021 as the U.S. military withdrew, leaving equipment behind.
