WASHINGTON – The Pentagon said Tuesday it has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate a range of Air Force contracts tainted by Darleen Druyun, a former senior Air Force official who admitted giving special treatment to the Boeing Co.

The review will include all contracts handled by Druyun during nearly a decade as a top acquisition official, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Michael Wynne, the Pentagon’s acting undersecretary for acquisition, told reporters that the GAO – the watchdog arm of Congress – would take over protests filed by Lockheed Martin Corp., BAE Systems PLC and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc.

The Pentagon also is launching two new task forces to investigate Druyun’s dealings since 1992 and examine Defense Department practices to determine whether internal policies can prevent future abuses, Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood said.

Druyun was sentenced to nine months in prison in October for discussing a job with Boeing while overseeing a $23 billion lease-purchase deal for Boeing to supply the Air Force with 767 refueling tankers. The deal has since been nullified.

Druyun, who eventually joined Boeing as a top executive, also has admitted providing assistance to the company on other contracts, including a $4 billion contract to provide upgrades to the Air Force’s C-130 transport fleet.

She also said she helped Boeing obtain an inflated deal on a $100 million NATO Airbone Warning and Control System contract in 2002, at the same time successfully intervened to keep Boeing from firing her daughter, who worked for the company, for poor performance.

Prosecutors said former Boeing chief financial officer Michael Sears improperly contacted Druyun about a possible top-level company job in 2002, when she still was at the Air Force and played a key role in deciding whether Boeing should get the tanker contract.

Druyun joined Boeing in January 2003 as deputy general manager of its Missile Defense Systems unit. Boeing fired Druyun and Sears in November 2003 for what the company termed unethical behavior.

Sears is scheduled to appear in federal court Monday in Virginia, where he is expected to plead guilty to a single felony count of aiding and abetting acts affecting a personal financial interest, according to a document filed at the court.

Boeing spokesman Doug Kennett said Tuesday the company was as surprised as anyone at Druyun’s revelations during her Oct. 1 sentencing.

“They surprised us then, and we’ve seen no evidence that would corroborate her statement, but we are willing to work with any and all of our customers to review all of these contracts to solve any problems that may exist,” Kennett said.

Pentagon officials say Druyun often operated without supervision and served as the final authority on eleven contracts worth more than $30 billion. Of those contracts, five either were awarded to Boeing alone or split between Boeing and others, according to an Air Force document.

Wynne said Druyun’s actions reflect an improper concentration of power for one employee.

“I did not know that she misused the power that she had. I just felt that she had too much,” Wynne said.