ACTION LINE #150401 Abuse of government vehicles

  • Published
  • 39th Air Base Wing public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Editor's note: The Action Line program allows members of Team Incirlik to voice concerns and receive a response relating to the concern while remaining anonymous. You can submit an action line by emailing it to: incirlik.actionline@us.af.mil.

Question:   I would like to discuss government vehicle abuse and the lack of enforcement on this installation.

For the past several months I've seen many government vehicles being parked in the school parking lot, on the roadway in front of the school or in the old taxi parking lot during non-duty hours. I've seen host national employees park these vehicles in the evening and walk directly to the gate, I've also seen HN employees enter the base in the morning and walk directly to the vehicle. I believe these government vehicles are being used to transport HN employees between the work place and the base gate at the beginning and end of their duty shifts. 

Additionally, vehicles are being used to transport US personnel to and from the base gate for the purpose of visiting the Alley in the evening and weekend hours. Government vehicles can also be seen almost daily in the Club and BX parking lots during lunch hours and in/around the dormitory after duty hours.  

I've worked with 39th Logistics Readiness Squadron reporting incidents, spoken to leadership personnel and I filed a Fraud, Waste and Abuse complaint on a tenant unit website.  Nothing has worked to stem the tide of vehicles being improperly used in this manner.  39th LRS informed me they have no control over NAF vehicles or vehicles belonging to tenant units such as AAFES, DECA. They file documentation on identified AF vehicles, a simple verbal briefing is sufficient to close the incident. 

This past Saturday morning at 1 a. m. there were six clearly identifiable government vehicles parked in the area, there were also other vehicles having Turkish license plates I believe some may have been government leased vehicles.

I find it hard to believe I'm the only person who has noticed these vehicles and I wonder why nothing is being done to stop it. Whether authorized or unauthorized perception is everything now days and it looks as if we're allowing government vehicles to be used for personal needs.

Response:   Thank you for taking the time to raise this important issue. Proper use of our resources is vital to all of us and we take reports like this very seriously. Our Logistics Readiness Squadron maintains a robust vehicle misuse program, which reviews and investigates every report of fraud, waste and abuse of government vehicles. This fiscal year, we received 14 vehicle abuse complaints to date and thoroughly investigated each claim. 5 claims were substantiated and were sent to the offending member's unit commander for disciplinary action.

The other 9 claims were reviewed and deemed in-line with official use policies. These investigations also demonstrated that there is much confusion on guidelines, rules, and travel authorization for our government vehicles.

For clarification, TDY personnel are authorized to take government motor vehicles (GMVs) to reputable eating establishments on and off base. Since vehicles cannot be taken off-base without a gate pass here at Incirlik AB, they may park at the front gate and walk to such private facilities in the alley. Vehicles operated by TDY personnel are sometimes marked with a yellow "TDY" sign at the bottom of the rear plate, but this is not always the case.

Emergency response vehicles (security forces patrol vehicles, fire department response vehicles, ambulances, etc.) may also visit on-base life-support facilities, as they may be required to respond at a moment's notice.

It is important to note that vehicles procured with non-appropriated funds (NAF) are not subject to the same restrictions regarding official use and may be driven to NAF facilities and functions, including off-base such as the spouse's newcomers' orientation. Many of these vehicles appear identical to GMV's procured with appropriated funds and can only be distinguished by running the plate numbers. Parking GMVs at the front gate and walking to a personal vehicle off-base to go home at the end of the duty day is considered partial domicile-to-duty and is strictly prohibited by law, Air Force Instruction 24-301, and the 39th Air Base Wing's policies.

We will monitor our vehicles more closely and ensure to remind our patrons of our policies as well as disseminate the above information and procedures for reporting to the base populace, online, and the Commander's Access Channel to increase awareness on this issue. As stated before, we take these reports serious and will investigate them to the fullest extent. In the future, if you suspect a government vehicle is being misused, please contact Vehicle Operations at 676-3421 immediately. If it's deemed a NAF vehicle, the LRS will refer the case to the owning organization in order to streamline the process for the base populace.

Thank you again for bringing this to our attention. We appreciate your concern and feedback.