US Must Learn From Past Mishandling of Sensitive Info, Records Amid Afghan Exit, DoD Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) -  The US military must learn from its past mishandling of sensitive information and records in order to improve their practices during the ongoing withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Defense Department’s Office of the Inspector General (DoD OIG) said in a report published Thursday.

“The lessons from past oversight of contingency operations should be used to ensure better controls during the ongoing withdrawal from Afghanistan,” the DoD OIG said. “Insufficient practices related to the handling of equipment containing sensitive information, identified in past oversight work, increased the risk of theft or compromise of the information maintained on that equipment.”

The report mentioned the need to make sure that laptops, cell phones, and other equipment that may contain the private medical information of soldiers are properly cleared of any sensitive material. A 2014 DoD OIG audit of the Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan found that troops failed to clear the hard drives of equipment they were giving to the redistribution team, which the DoD OIG said risks the compromise and theft of sensitive information.

They also said that previous joint reports with Government Accountability Office have documented the loss of “hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment” due to poor recordkeeping and maintenance.

“The proper retention of records associated with the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan is critical. For example, maintaining control of all associated documentation will decrease the risk of equipment loss, facilitate equipment re‑use, and keep sensitive equipment, including weapons and vehicles, out of the hands of our enemies,” the DoD OIG said.

The report ended by saying that the mistakes compiled within it can serve as a “reference” for personnel overseeing the retention of the records both during the ongoing Afghan withdrawal and future operations.

While the US initially planned to be fully withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of August, a Taliban advance through much of the country’s provincial areas has prompted the Biden administration to redeploy several thousand troops to Kabul in order to aid with the protection of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants and the US diplomatic mission.