Pentagon to make improvements after moldy body armor sent to Taiwan

Washington/Taipei, Sept. 13 (CNA) The United States Department of Defense (DOD) on Friday said it has taken action to make improvements after "unserviceable and poorly packaged" equipment and munitions were sent to Taiwan under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA).

The PDA is a process under which the U.S. can send equipment and weapons from existing stocks to its allied partners in crisis situations. In July 2023, the Biden administration authorized as much as US$345 million in defense articles and services to Taiwan under this presidential drawdown.

"Taiwan is a key security cooperation partner, and the U.S. overnment is committed to ensuring that equipment delivered to this partner is sufficient for operational use," DOD Spokesperson Pete Nguyen told CNA.

The defense department will learn from this experience, which was the first of its kind, and "has taken action to improve its PDA process for Taiwan," Nguyen said.

The Pentagon spokesperson made the response after the Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed in its report this week that the DOD had provided shipments of unserviceable and poorly packaged equipment and munitions to Taiwan from November 2023 through March this year.

"We appreciate the perspective this report brings to a complex and unique issue for a critical security cooperation partner and anticipate the positive impact it will have on the Department moving forward," he said, indicating that DOD fully supports the intent behind the OIG's recommendations.

According to the OIG report, in December 2023, the DOD delivered to Taiwan 120 of the 340 water damaged pallets, which according to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) personnel, contained wet and moldy body armor.

The items remained at the Travis Air Force Base for more than three months because the Army did not begin initiating requests for Special Airlift Assignment Mission flights to Taiwan until December, the OIG said.

Due to this, Taiwanese authorities had to spend weeks "unpacking, drying and inventorying the wet and moldy equipment," it said.

In the same month, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) also issued a letter to the AIT stating that Taiwan received 2.7 million rounds of ammunition from the DOD, including some that was expired, in a mix of original, loose and incorrect packaging, the OIG added.

"The DOD did not effectively or efficiently implement accountability and quality controls for items delivered to Taiwan," the OIG said in the report, adding that those actions "inhibit the DOD's ability to achieve established security cooperation goals and may lead to loss of partner confidence in the United States."

Earlier on Friday, the MND told CNA that the shipments of equipment and munitions have been jointly reviewed and handled accordingly by Taiwan and the U.S., without elaborating.