The Pentagon sent Taiwan “wet and moldy body armor” in arms shipments intended to strengthen Taiwan’s defensebut instead the U.S. spent at least another $730,000 to fix the problems, according to a report released this week by the Defense Department’s inspector general.

The independent watchdog concluded that the Pentagon failed to follow guidelines for providing assistance under the presidential drawdown authority between November 2023 and March 2024. This authority allows the U.S. to send its allies equipment from current Defense Department inventories.

“Had these guidelines been followed, the Department of Defense could have delivered military equipment to Taiwan in acceptable condition,” Inspector General Robert Storch said in a statement. “Instead, the equipment arrived in Taiwan damaged and moldy. Such a performance could undermine Taiwan’s confidence in the United States as a reliable source of aid.”

The damaged equipment was part of the 345 million US dollars The aid package announced by the Biden administration in July 2023 represents the first troop withdrawal the United States has ever committed to Taiwan.

More than 340 of 504 pallets of equipment – about 67 percent – suffered water damage while sitting at Travis Air Force Base for three months waiting for a flight to Taiwan. Some of the pallets were exposed to heavy rain, fog, humidity and heat because the base did not have adequate storage facilities, according to the report.

The Office of the Inspector General found that the pallets “had visible mold spores and were wrapped in plastic that had accumulated water, encouraging further deterioration and mold growth.”

Of the 340 water-damaged pallets, 120 were shipped to Taiwan. They contained more than 3,000 moldy body armor plates and 500 wet and moldy tactical vests. Taiwanese authorities spent weeks unpacking and drying the equipment, the report said.

The inspector general found that there had been misunderstandings about who was responsible for organizing the delivery flights to Taiwan. He recommended that the Pentagon’s Defense and Security Cooperation Agency, which is responsible for training and equipping U.S. allies, develop a plan that clarifies responsibilities and schedules for the deliveries and ensures that there are procedures in place to control the quality of the deliveries.

“Taiwan is a key security cooperation partner and the U.S. government is committed to ensuring that the equipment delivered to this partner is sufficient for operational use,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Pete Nguyen said in a statement to CBS News, adding that future Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) packages for Taiwan “will be based on the lessons learned from PDA-01, the first of its kind.”

U.S. personnel told the Office of the Inspector General that they spent about $619,000 on labor and materials at the base to clean and dry wet and moldy body armor that had not been shipped, and they spent another $113,500 to replace some of the equipment before it was sent to Taiwan.

By May 31, 2024, the U.S. had not sent Taiwan replacements for the damaged body armor plates and tactical vests, the report said.

The inspector general also found that some of the 2.7 million rounds of ammunition Taiwan received were expired and shipped “in a mix of original packaging, loose packaging and incorrect packaging.”

The report said the delivery of “non-operational equipment” risked “damaging Taiwan’s trust in the United States.”

Nguyen, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement to CBS News: “We value the perspective this report provides on a complex and unique issue for an important security cooperation partner and expect positive implications it will have for the future of the Department.”

The 2023 defense budget authorized the United States to use up to $1 billion in presidential funds for Taiwan yearly.