Because of such problems at five bases reviewed (Hill, Eglin, Davis-Monthan, Kadena and Yokota), inspectors estimated about 40 percent of Air Force LSVs on lists are misclassified. At just the five bases, LSVs found and valued at $510,000 were missing from all inventories, and LSVs worth $2.8 million were misclassified.

Inspectors also said many of the vehicles are not being maintained properly, in part because various organizations think someone else is supposed to be doing it or tracking it because of confusing Air Force rules.

For example, a report said that of 33 LSVs it reviewed at Hill, maintenance had not been documented for any of them (but they were found to be in good working order) — and only one had received a safety inspection. At all bases reviewed, 90 percent of LSVs did not have maintenance documented and 60 percent lacked safety inspections.

Inspectors said bases reported they were not aware they were supposed to document maintenance. Also, some rules about who was supposed to do it were confusing. Bases were supposed to maintain LSVs bought before June 2006 at the unit level, while vehicles bought after that were supposed to be maintained through central control.

The report said bases and Air Force commands agreed to take steps to rectify problems, including conducting an physical inventory of all such vehicles to ensure they are listed properly on inventories.

The Air Force also updated training on who is responsible for such vehicles and inventories — including how to differentiate between street-legal LSVs and golf cart and four-wheelers — and the different rules and responsibilities for each.

E-mail: lee@desnews.com