Summary: To increase the participation of small disadvantaged businesses in military subcontracting, Congress mandated the Pilot Mentor-Protege Program in 1990. This program encourages mentoring relationships between major prime contractors and subcontractors. Because program implementation has been slow, not enough information is available to determine whether the program's goals can be achieved or whether reauthorization and extension is warranted. Pentagon officials said that all fiscal year 1992 and 1993 appropriated funds for the pilot program have been committed. As of September 1993, however, the Defense Department (DOD) had neither (1) complied with its own regulation to assess programs and accomplishments realized under any of the agreements nor (2) compiled the required data on the eight measures that it planned to used to evaluate program success. DOD obtained some initial participation on a "credit-only" basis and limited participation through a mix of credit and cost reimbursement through the mentor's overhead cost pool. DOD's direct reimbursement of mentors' cost has exceeded $1 million in support of each protege during a three-year period. Unless additional nonmonetary incentives are developed to encourage mentor participation, it is unlikely that the program will reach the number of proteges envisioned by Congress or significantly increase the total number of subcontracts awarded to small disadvantaged businesses.
