A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that 14 major military contractors have hired 1,718 former senior Pentagon officials over a five-year span. A group of good-governance advocates are pushing reforms seeking to prevent potential conflicts of interest posed by this activity. The Sept. 9 GAO report found that of 1,497,882 people who left the Department of Defense between 2014-2019, 37,032 of them went to work for one of the 14 major contactors reviewed. Of that, 1,718 were senior officials, the GAO report said. The GAO said the DOD and private sector both benefit from this interplay. But there is also a potential conflict of interest, with current Pentagon workers being tempted to favor military contractors in anticipation of future employment opportunities, the GAO said. DOD personnel who work for a defense contractor might also be perceived as using their contacts with former Pentagon colleagues for the benefit of …