Monday, June 14, 2004 | 8:38 a.m.
It's hard to picture $500 billion, which is about what the Pentagon's budget will be in 2005. The picture becomes a little clearer, however, when realizing it's so much money that $10 million here, $20 million there -- heck, even $100 million -- can flutter away without anyone noticing.
This is what's been happening in just one account -- the one for airline tickets -- at the Pentagon since 1997. The General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, reported last week that the Pentagon failed to gain reimbursements for at least $100 million worth of airline tickets it bought but either didn't use, or failed to use completely. The tickets were reimbursable -- all anyone had to do was apply. No one did, however, and the money was wasted. The GAO also reported that millions more were lost through fraud. Some people were being personally reimbursed for tickets paid for by the Pentagon. Others were impersonating Pentagon staff and getting free flights. And others, who should have been flying coach, were flying first class.
The Pentagon, of course, has promised sweeping changes in the way tickets are handled. But that won't bring back the $100 million lost through sloppy and nonchalant accounting. And it won't bring back the millions lost through fraud. And it certainly won't bring smiles to the faces of local officials all over the country, who are starving for money to train and equip their first responders in the event of a terrorist attack.
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