Wednesday, March 12, 2014
On Why Reforming the Pentagon has Been So Elusive
Well, it's certainly not because they haven't studied it enough. I cite specifically the 1949 Hoover Commission, the 1971 Fitzhugh Commission, the 1977 Steadman Review, the 1981 Carlucci Acquisitions Initiatives, the 1986 Packard Commission, the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act, the 1989 Defense Management Review, The Defense Science Board's 1990 Streamlining Review, the 1993-94 Report of the Acquisitions Streamlining Task Force, The Air Force's Total System Performance Responsibility Initiative - JUST TO NAME A FEW. And, no, it isn't even as if these committees have failed to put forth some solid recommendations (making sure that particular weapons systems are fully developed prior to purchasing, for example), either. They obviously have and still nothing happens....Oh well, I guess that in Washington these days any efforts to streamline, reduce cost, and eliminate corruption are just not going to be taken seriously due to politics and special interests.
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5 comments:
What makes it harder is that there are some (WD sides with) who want such reform not to save money, but to make the nation weak and strengthen our enemies such as his hero Bin Laden. This adds unnecessary complication, and those opposed to reforming the defense budget can use the folks of ill will as an excuse to oppose any and all reforms.
No one wants to cut spending in their own community or state.
You're right, dmarks, the devil is definitely in the detail and hopefully they'll be able to target real waste such as obsolete weapons systems and unnecessary military bases.............Absolutely, Jerry, it's all about bringing home the bacon, isn't it?
You got that right, Jerry. The corrupt pork barrel and earmark situation that builds and maintains the MIC. Both parties and even the independents are in deep.
Some 350 bases have been closed through the BRAC process, although there are still probably too many. Sort of sentimental for
me, as in the early sixties, I was at some:
Ft. McClellan, AL a chemical training/WAC basic place where I
went through chemical officers
course (mean green dragon patch
with the Latin 'Elemental Regamus
Proelium' crest. That being a dead
language, the soldiers translated it as "Up your ass with bugs and gas"
The Presidio, SF a very old base
where I delivered and picked up
classified documents from HQ 6th Army (its a great park now)
Letterman General Hospital, a huge
Army hospital. I had a patient,
a soldier I was doing a Report Of Survey on.
Fort Douglas, UT was the HQ of
Deseret Test Center, a joint service command for the 'bugs and gas' stuff: deeded over to U of Utah. Some larger bases have been ineter-service merged, such as Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, and a few will be around
for awhile, for example the Hanford Works, where all the plutonium during the cold war was made and separated. There are decades of decon to be done with
some nasty stuff.
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