By the Book

Shay Assad, the acting deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition and technology, recently reminded the military's contracting community to play by the book when it comes to paperwork for contracts within the U.S. Central Command area.

At issue is the mandatory Theater Business Clearance process, which provides crucial information on contracts and contractors to commanders in theater. The idea is for the services' various contracting shops to enforce compliance with the TBC process.

Apparently, not everyone got the memo.

"The Joint Contracting Command-Iraq/Afghanistan, CENTCOM, and our Joint Staff partners report that organizations are not complying with the TBC policy," Assad wrote in a Sept. 15 memo to the acquisition chiefs of the services, U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Transportation Command and the defense agencies.

Memo recipients have until Oct. 31 to have their contracting officers "affirm" compliance with TBC requirements, the missive states.

An August CENTCOM fact sheet describes some of the "recent operational challenges" resulting from missing TBC documentation. For example, "sensitive items" were shipped without the necessary in-transit visibility. Plus, DOD officials have no way of verifying that armed personnel working within the CENTCOM area have the proper training, licenses and authorizations needed to carry weapons, the fact sheet states.