A controversial government corporation that relies on cheap prison labor was caught producing faulty military equipment that could have endangered the lives of US soldiers.
The Department of Justice Inspector General released a damning report on Wednesday, which found that military contractor ArmorSource and it’s subcontractor, Federal Prison Industries, produced tens of thousands of flawed combat helmets that cost the US government more than $19 million.
Federal Prison Industries (FPI), also known as UNICOR, is a government-run enterprise that relies on a labor force of roughly 22,000 prison inmates that earn as little as 23-cents per hour.
In 2006, ArmorSource, a private company, secured a contract to produce advanced combat helmets (ACH) for the Pentagon. The company subcontracted assembly of the helmets to FPI’s prison workforce, which was, at the time, also producing another type of troop helmet–lightweight Marine Corps helmets (LMCH)–at a federal prison in Beaumont, Texas.
Both types of helmets had “numerous defects,” including ballistic failures, wrong dimensions, and expired paint, the inspector general found.
Investigators also discovered that FPI staff ordered inmates to alter manufacturing documents to show that defective helmets had passed inspection.
The company was additionally caught pre-selecting helmets for inspection, despite the contract requiring random selections for review. In some cases, helmet serial numbers were “switched or altered” to evade quality-control examinations.
The IG blamed private contractor ArmorSource for lax management, noting that the firm “did not provide adequate oversight of the manufacture of the ACH, which resulted in helmets that were not manufactured according to contract specifications.”
By 2010, nearly 150,000 ACH and LMCH helmets were recalled, costing the US government $19,083,959. The IG noted that it could not find information that any servicemembers were injured or killed as a result of the flawed protective gear.
A surprise investigation of the Beaumont facility by the DOJ watchdog revealed that inmates were openly using “improvised tools” to construct the helmets. Production there was subsequently closed “and its entire staff transferred to other duties within the Federal Bureau of Prisons,” the IG reported.
The DOJ declined to criminally prosecute anyone related to the helmet manufacturing fiasco. ArmorSource, however, agreed to pay $3 million in a civil settlement with the US government.
According to its website, FPI offers inmates “productive work” and “marketable skils.” Laborers in 109 prison factories across the country are involved in sewing clothing and textiles, constructing office furniture, tinkering with electronics, and making industrial products.
The firm is primarily restricted to making products that are used by federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Prisons, and the US Postal Service. Its biggest customer is the Defense Department, which is responsible for 60 percent of FPI’s sales, totaling more than $609 million in 2013.
The maximum FPI hourly wage for inmates is $1.15.
The Washington Post reported that investigators were tipped off to the defective helmets by two whistleblowers who worked as supervisors at FPI.
