The Defense Department has announced the completion of its first-ever agency-wide financial audit.
On Nov. 16, the DoD said the audit, whose final report is now available for download, involved over a thousand auditors who verified voluminous records covering military personnel, equipment and real property. In addition, the auditors evaluated DoD systems for security weaknesses.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan explained that, through the audit, the DoD sought to “facilitate transparency with Congress and the American taxpayer and to determine corrective actions to instill long-term discipline.†Shanahan went on to describe the audit’s completion as “a historic accomplishment.”Â
David Norquist, Defense Department Comptroller, had called the then-ongoing audit a service to the American taxpayer. Norquist also said the effort would yield a “laundry list†of DoD weaknesses which contractors could help resolve.
Echoing Norquist’s sentiments, the DoD said in its press release the agency “is committed to fixing these issues and continuing to improve the ability to defend the nation while being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money.â€