Critics call Air Force negotiator too cozy with industry

This was from the wee early hours today - so a tad to old for LBN. But seems note worthy and discussion worthy.

Critics call Air Force negotiator too cozy with industry

By Renae Merle
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — To hear defense contractors describe her, Darleen Druyun was a formidable opponent, one of the most powerful women in the Pentagon and someone who could cripple a cherished program with a scornful eye. Her nickname, they say, was "Dragon Lady."

Druyun, a former weapons buyer for the Air Force, was also known to keep the interests of the industry's giants in mind, understanding that thriving contractors were necessary to ensure that vital Air Force contracts would be fulfilled. Now, her role in negotiating a lease with Boeing for 100 tanker planes has drawn criticism from Capitol Hill.

That criticism centers on whether Druyun, while with the Air Force, became too close to the industry she negotiated with on taxpayers' behalf. Congressional critics have charged she promoted the contract as welfare for a struggling Boeing, where she went to work after retiring from the Air Force last November

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Druyun's complex working relationship with Boeing is illustrated by company e-mails related to the tanker lease. In an internal October 2001 e-mail, a Boeing executive predicted "Darleen will make the actual contract favorable," adding she promised to help win the support of Wall Street for the deal.

But in an April 2002 e-mail, another executive said "Darleen repeatedly came at us on price through the discussions." Still, the Air Force settled on a price other government officials thought high

more: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001776442_druyon28.html