Military waste

[Indofred]

Reuters TV | Billions in Pentagon spending down a black hole

comments?

 

[whitehall]

The thing of it is that "Pentagon spending" doesn't really translate to Military waste. The Troops use what ever junk they get but the fat asses in the Pentagon respond to the Washington cocktail party circuit and wildly spending lobbyists and political party agenda more than they do their duty and take care of the Troops.

 

[KissMy]

I have seen the US military pay enormous rates to incinerate new military equipment by the train loads. They destroyed train car loads back-packs w/water bladders that could have been given to US citizens to use a "bug out bags" in the event of natural disasters. But instead the citizens who paid for these, also had to pay again to destroy them.

The US military also pays our enemies enormous amounts of money. They fund the enemy we are fighting against.

Just imagine all the good we could have created with all the money they wasted.

 

[Mr Natural]

Anyone ever see the miles and miles of miltary aircraft junkyards in Tucson?

 

[Boatswain2PA]

I have seen the US military pay enormous rates to incinerate new military equipment by the train loads. They destroyed train car loads back-packs w/water bladders that could have been given to US citizens to use a "bug out bags" in the event of natural disasters. But instead the citizens who paid for these, also had to pay again to destroy them.

The US military also pays our enemies enormous amounts of money. They fund the enemy we are fighting against.

Just imagine all the good we could have created with all the money they wasted.

While I agree with you about this unnecessary waste, this is not the the biggest financial problem.

By far the biggest expenditure the military has is it's personnel costs. As we all know, the more senior you are, the more you cost the government (pay and retirement).

Look at the growth, in percentage of active duty force, of our office corps over the past 50 years.

 

[longknife]

Anyone ever see the miles and miles of miltary aircraft junkyards in Tucson?

Actually, they serve a great purpose. Not just the scrap metal that is recovered by having parts available to sell to foreign countries still flying some of those dinosaurs.

 

[longknife]

This biggest government waste comes from contracts forced down the throats of military procurement agencies because of pressure from powerful politicians - of both parties.

It also has to do with financial procedures that are outdated and cannot be changed due to the same politicians.

Every effort to make changes fail because of political - not military - considerations.

 

[whitehall]

Wait until US Troops are deployed to fight a freaking disease in Africa. You will see the billions go down the drain pretty fast.

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

Most of the waste happens before departments are given budgets and commanding officers know that if you don't use your entire budget, you'll be stripped down the following year.

And also, it is VERY easy when outfitting your team to say "well it's not my money, so yeah send me this, this, this, and this.

 

[Moonglow]

We always have beer and pit pig roast when I was in the Army..That's how they spent what was left in he budget.. You went into the day room and could get a beer from the cola machine...only 50 cents...

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - freeze dey's budget till dey cut out the waste...

Pentagon Reportedly Buried Study Exposing $125 Billion in Waste
Dec 06, 2016 - Senior defense officials suppressed a study documenting $125 billion worth of administrative waste at the Pentagon out of fears that Congress would use its findings to cut the defense budget, The Washington Post reported late Monday.

The report, which was issued in January 2015 by the advisory Defense Business Board (DBB), called for a series of reforms that would have saved the department $125 billion over the next five years. Among its other findings, the report showed that the Defense Department was paying just over 1 million contractors, civilian employees and uniformed personnel to fill back-office jobs. That number nearly matches the amount of active-duty troops -- 1.3 million, the lowest since 1940.

The Post reported that some Pentagon leaders feared the study's findings would undermine their claims that years of budget sequestration had left the military short of money. In response, they imposed security restrictions on information used in the study and even pulled a summary report from a Pentagon website. "They're all complaining that they don't have any money," former DBB chairman Robert Stein told the Post. "We proposed a way to save a ton of money." Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, who originally ordered the study, told the paper that the plan laid out in the report was "unrealistic." "There is this meme that we're some bloated, giant organization," Work said. "Although there is a little bit of truth in that ... I think it vastly overstates what's really going on."

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook echoed Work's claim in a statement to Fox News, which said that the DBB report "had limited value" because it "lacked specific, actionable recommendations appropriate to the department." Work claimed that some of the report's recommendations were being implemented on a smaller scale and would save an estimated $30 billion by 2020. However, the Post reported that most of the programs had been long-planned or were unrelated to the Defense Business Board report.

Pentagon Reportedly Buried Study Exposing $125 Billion in Waste | Military.com

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Trump Says Cancel New Air Force One: Costs 'Out of Control'
Dec 06, 2016 | Donald Trump says he wants the government to cut some costs by canceling its order for a new Air Force One.

Six weeks from taking office, Donald Trump says he wants the government to cut some costs by canceling its order for a new Air Force One, the plane that carries presidents around the globe. The government has contracted with Boeing to build two or more new planes, which would go into service around 2024. That means Trump wouldn't fly on the new planes unless he pursued and won a second term. But the Air Force has pressed for a faster schedule, saying the current planes are becoming too expensive to repair and keep in good flying shape. The contract for the planes was to be about $3 billion, but costs have been reported to be rising. Trump tweeted early Tuesday, "Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"

President-elect Donald Trump arrives at Carrier Corp. in Indianapolis.​

Asked for comment, Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher said, "We are going to have to get back to you after we figure out what's going on." Trump now uses his own plane, also a 747, but as president he would travel aboard the Air Force jet, which is equipped with special safety, defensive and communications equipment. Later Tuesday, Trump is making the second stop of this "thank you" tour in North Carolina, less than a week after his bombastic return to rallies at an Ohio appearance that felt more like a raucous campaign stop than a traditional speech by a president-to-be. At that Cincinnati stop, Trump disparaged the media as "dishonest," inspired loud "Build the wall" chants, took swipes at fellow Republicans and stunned his own aides with his surprise announcement from the stage that he was appointing retired Gen. James Mattis as secretary of defense.

Mattis' selection was being formally announced Tuesday, and Mattis will appear with Trump at the evening event in Fayetteville, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." Later this week, there will be rallies in Iowa and Michigan as Trump barnstorms the country to salute his supporters who delivered the victories in the battleground states he needed to capture the White House. The North Carolina rally comes a day after Trump chose retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, raising fresh concerns about the lack of experience some of Trump's Cabinet picks have with agencies they're now being chosen to lead. Carson, who opposed Trump in the Republican primaries, has no background in government or running a large bureaucracy. Pence defended Carson's selection, saying he was "absolutely qualified" for the post.

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Air Force’s Future War Network Doubles in Cost
December 2, 2016 - A critical network upgrade the U.S. Air Force will need to conduct air operations, and counterterrorism and humanitarian missions is more than three years overdue and has doubled in price, according to a report submitted to Congress last week.

Northrop Grumman Corp. is developing the so-called Air Operations Center Weapon System, or AOC 10.2, whose costs have surged from the original $374 million to $745 million, Bloomberg News’ Tony Capaccio first reported this week. The upgraded system in total could eventually climb to $3 billion, according to the report. Officials now have three years to decide whether they will “fully deploy” the system — a decision originally planned for last July, the report stated. The technology is designed to enhance battlefield command and control in part by converting “raw data into actionable information that is used to direct battlefield activities,” according to a press release from Northrop.

Air Operations Center Weapon System (AOC WS).​

The Falls Church, Virginia-based company, working with the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is under contract to develop “a secure, streamlined computing environment for legacy and stove-piped systems,” the release states. “AOC modernization through a truly open systems approach will significantly reduce life cycle costs and enable the Air Force’s future operational concepts,” Mike Twyman, vice president and general manager of the Defense Systems division for Northrop Grumman Information Systems, said in 2013.

“Effective air, space and cyberspace operations depend on integrated effects across the joint force. The key is command and control, and the modernized AOC provides warfighters with the secure, flexible and agile [command and control] capabilities necessary for meeting the security challenges of the future,” he said.

Air Force's Future War Network Doubles in Cost