units got a passing grade (an “unmodified opinion”). All the rest failed. The Pentagon estimated that this first audit cost close to $1 billion: $367 million for military infrastructure to support the audits and for the corporations conducting the audit, and $551 million to fix the problems identified in the audit. Investigative journalist Dave Lindorff described the situation: The accounting firms eventually concluded that the Department’s “financial records were riddled with so many bookkeeping deficiencies, irregularities, and errors that a reliable audit was simply impossible.” Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan asserted, “We failed the audit, but we never expected to pass it.” A few months after the first audit was over, David Norquist—the man who as the Pentagon’s comptroller oversaw the entire audit process—got promoted to Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense. Norquist is a former partner of Kearney & Co., one of the firms that conducted the audit. After the first audit was over, DOD continued purchasing audit services from accounting firms, including from Ernst & Young, Kearney & Co., and KPMG. In January 2019, the U.S. Air Force contracted Diligent Consulting (San Antonio, TX) to realign “the fielding strategy to match the needs of individual units" and "incorporate two financial processes necessary to be compliant with Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness and the Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual.” DOD failed its second audit, though DOD officials insisted "progress" was being made. DOD failed its third audit, with DOD officials urging patience, asserting that DOD will likely pass its audit sometime around the year 2027. As of fiscal year 2021, DOD has still not passed its audit. Locations Current locations: Major Sites Indianapolis, Indiana (Headquarters) – DFAS is headquartered in the MG Emmett J. Bean Finance Center, a building that was part of Fort Benjamin Harrison. A solar panel system was installed on the roof of the building in 2010, allowing the building to generate 1.8-MW. Prior to housing DFAS, this location was known as the Finance Center, U.S. Army (1953-1972); U.S. Army Finance Support Agency (1972-1974); U.S. Army Finance and Accounting Center (1975-1991). Cleveland, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Limestone, Maine Rome, New York Europe Japan Smaller scaled back sites Alexandria, Virginia Texarkana, Texas Bratenahl, Ohio Closed sites: Patuxent River, Maryland Charleston, South Carolina Dayton, Ohio Denver, Colorado - Lowry Air Force Base Kansas City, Missouri - Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base Lawton, Oklahoma Lexington, Kentucky Norfolk, Virginia Omaha, Nebraska