An article in this morning's Washington Post concerning the cemetery details 20 years of mismanagement and petty infighting among the top officials at the cemetery.  While the casual observer believed the recent revelations about problems at Artlington were new, internal Army documents show the military had been trying to fix systemic problems at the cemetery for years. 

The mismanagement of the cemetery reveals itself most clearly in shoddy record keeping.  Entire sections of the cemetery are poorly documented and at times, incorrectly documented.  These mistakes can be found even in the sections of the cemetery where the nation's most famous have been laid to rest. 

According to the Washington Post, "In many cases -- including the plot where former Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and a Vietnam War veteran are buried -- two of the VIPs are buried where the map notes just one. Another grave that appears occupied on the map has no headstone. And seven graves that appear empty on the map are filled."

Besides internal record keeping mismanagment, problems concerning the cemetery's labor outsourcing reveal widespread errors and a general disregard for the Army's standard operating procedure.

"We know that nearly every possible problem in contracting occurred, and consequences are appalling," said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), head of the subcommittee. "I'm looking forward to talking with those responsible."

Hundreds of contracts were awarded under Section 8a, the federal code allowing agencies to sign noncompetitive contracts with small, minority-owned businesses.

According to federal contracting data, Arlington had landscaping contracts with more than 25 companies. From 2003 to 2007, more than $17 million was spent on such work.

Arlington's critical need was for new computer technology. But Army investigators found that the multimillion-dollar effort proceeded even though the cemetery lacked an IT acquisition strategy, which is required to justify any technology investment of more than $500,000."