Asif Azami

ID: 27445
Procurement
Professor: Shoaib Rahim
April 27, 2020

Case Study
Procurement of Afghan National Army Uniforms

In the procurement of ANA uniforms, what ethical values were not respected? Provide
examples for each.
The findings in the SIGAR report on the procurement of the Afghanistan National Army (ANA)
Uniforms, has arisen many ethical issues during the procurement of uniform. The report was
published in June 2017 and was carrying the information on the procurement of uniforms for
ANA from 2007 to 2017. The report was basely targeting the weak procurement process of ANA
uniform, especially the circumvention of Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements and
violation of U.S. law by the Afghan government. At time of the procurement, the Combined
Security Transition Command–Afghanistan (CSTC-A) was responsible for overseeing efforts to
equip and train the ANA and ANP, validating their requirements, validating existing supply,
levels, submitting requests to DODcomponents to contract for procurement of materiel for the
ANDSF, and ensuring the accountability for appropriately uses the U.S. funds provided as direct
contributions from the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund. CSTC-A and Ministry of Defense
(MoD) approved the specifications for a new design of ANA uniform without considering the
geographical context of the country and using unneeded and costly proprietary camouflage
pattern on it. The procurement committee did not consider any ethical standards, concepts, and
principals during the procurement of high costed and untested uniforms. Additionally, CSTC-A
and other committee member give priority to unethical procedures such as
 No due diligence or assessment of the quality of the product
 Specifying the name of the pattern in the specification
 Limiting competition
 Limiting the market assessment
 Fairness in the selection of supplier,
 Selecting HyperStealthas sole supplier and with Specifying the name of pattern “Spec4ce
Forest” in the specification
 Sharing of confidential information prior, the selection process with vendors
 Awarding the contract at a high cost and ignoring the Best Value for Money (BVM)
Overall, the process of procurement is lacking loyalty, integrity, impartiality, fairness,
transparency, confidentiality, and due diligence in the procurement process of ANA uniform.

1|Page
Based on your procurement knowledge, list five parties who you think are to blame and are
responsible for the problems in this procurement, and explain the reason behind each? List from
highest to lowest responsible (1 to 5).

Based on the evaluation of the SIGAR report accordingly to ethical procurement standards
principles, I blame the following five parties for breaching the Afghan and the US procurement
laws,
1. Combined Security Transition Command–Afghanistan (CSTC-A) procurements
team: Under the current Resolute Support mission and the International Security
Assistance Force mission that preceded CSTC as the DOD organization in
Afghanistan and was given the highest authority and responsibility for overseeing the
overall equipment of ANA uniform for validating, reviewing, and funding all ANA
official clothing and other equipment requirements, and supported the government’s
decision to in making a different uniform for ANA. the CSTC-A officials were
convicted in limiting the specification for the camouflage options in order to award its
sole supplier “HyperStealth”. CSTC-A ignored formal testing and proper measures
during all stages of the procurement process which violated the procurement laws.
2. Ministry of Defense (MoD): The specification for procurement of ANA uniform was
developed specifically by CSTC-A and MoD with aiming to provide unique uniform
with proprietary camouflage pattern Spec4ce Forest” by HyperStealth which would
be difficult to duplicate by enemies. MoD was directly involved in the development
of the procurement measure and requirement and they are equally blamed for this act.
3. ANA Senior Leaders: the specification for the procurement of ANA uniform, were
developed in the coordination of ANA Senior Leaders and officials. They were
involved in this process because of their ability. The question is why they accepted
and approve the specification for ANA uniform, as they are directly involved in the
battlefield with the enemy and face the environmental factors on a daily basis. The
ANA leaders have ignored the Whistle-Blowing terminology and this is the reason
they are to blame.
4. HyperStealth. The vendor of this project is blamed for not considering the core
procurement principles of Afghanistan and the U.S. and provide a platform for
corruption and fraud.
5. Contractors: those contractors who were coordinated during the development of
specification are guilty and blamed for not arising and sharing the issue with the
government and another procurement committee.

As per my evaluation, all these parties have violated the legal procurement system and violated
the laws.

2|Page
If you were Afghanistan’s Minister of Defense and were made aware of this process, what
are the three minimum steps would you have taken? Please elaborate

If I am appointed as the minister of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) and I faced such a scenario in
procurement sector my first act will be freezing the process of procurement of ANA uniform
from HyperStealthand I will elect a committee composed of members NPA, NPC, Procurement
department of MoD, MoF and few other stakeholders for deep assessment of the event for
integrity, transparency, fairness, and ethical standards.

1. Evaluation of the procurement process for ANA uniform. In this regard, all those
stakeholders who were directly and directly involve will be interrogated. Those, who
were involved or found guilty in any type of corruption and fraud, would be terminated
with immediate effect and then will be introduced to the court.
2. Coordination with different stakeholders (NPA) and ministries for drafting new
specifications for ANA uniform, which will be considering the following points.
a. Good quality of the cloth
b. Suitable to the context of Afghanistan
c. Cheaper in price
d. Consider Best Value for money
e. Minimize the complexity by avoiding patterns
f. Optimize competition
g. On-time delivery time
h. Evaluation committee members
i. And other relevant mandates

These procedures and measures will be aiming at SMART (Specific, Measureable, Attainable,
Relevant, and time boned) procurement activities.

3. Develop an online system for tracking the performance of the procurement of the ANA
uniform. I would have hired a team for developing an MIS system for better transparency
of procurement activities and decision making.

3|Page
In your opinion, what are the consequences of this procurement to the US and
Afghanistan? List three for each side

The contract of procuring ANA uniform has brought confusion and leaking trust in political and
social affairs between the U.S. and Afghanistan for future funds.

U.S consequences Afghanistan consequences

1. The U.S. is required for strong The government lost its reputation for future
justification for effectively and funding and opportunities
sufficiently use of the amount because
of its US taxpayer money.
2. If the U.S. did not have enough proof The government showed a weak procurement
for utilizing the amount effectively strategy and system for ANA uniforms
and sufficiently, they will lose their
reputation for future opportunities
3. They may be strongly evaluated for Their maybe a reduction in funding for the
future funding or may not receive fund future due to the weak system.
a long period

What are the five lessons you have learned from this case study?

From reviewing and reading this case study, I learned the following lessons:

1. Weak and Poor procurement strategy could cost millions of dollars in loss.
2. Underestimating the ethical principle in procurement could lead some to be in prison.
3. The CSTC-A ignored Risk Management in the procurement of ANA uniform, which put
them under the investigation of SIGAR.
4. There has to be a proper assessment and/or due diligence for suppliers, and goods before
procuring any item for procurement.
5. Respect the procurement policies and code of conduct while implementing a project.

4|Page
5|Page