Now, here is a carrot to go with that stick I just finished waving around.
Want to know how you can really do something like this? Get rid of all the damned contractors in the DoD.
Back in the early 1990s, a hell of a lot of the tasks done on bases used to be done by the military itself. But the RIFs and huge reduction of the number in the military then left them unable to do a lot of those tasks. And at that time under the Clinton Administration there was a massive increase in the number of contractors in the DoD.
Back before then, when you were assigned to a unit one of the first places you reported to was your unit Supply Sergeant. Where you were issued everything you needed to do your jobs, from sleeping bags and packs to shelter halves, helmets and body armor. This was done at the Battalion level, and that supply section would have around a dozen individuals who did that task.
Go into a chow hall, and you would see from 2-5 civilians. They were the "long term continuity" staff, supervisors who were there for 10+ years, unlike the enlisted who worked there for no more than 2-3 years before moving on. Even in the scullery, the dishes were all cleaned by lower enlisted. Not as a job, just a 30 day duty they might get tasked with once every year or two.
And it was the same all over. Get told for a week you were being sent to the "Sergeant Major's Detail", where you spent that week doing things like painting or mowing the grass. Or being sent out to a sub-camp on your base to break down the furniture in some training barracks and installing new furniture.
Today, those jobs are not done by the military. They are all done by contractors that are paid by the military to do them.
Oh, but wait a moment...
At one time, the top or next to top enlisted member of a Company sized unit was in charge of their barracks. Either the Company Gunny or Company First Sergeant would assign individuals to their rooms. And on a weekly basis they would inspect and maintain those rooms. If individuals had problems with their roommates, they would go talk to them and they would be reassigned.
Even base housing was handled by the military. A few DoD civilian employees (not contractors) once again as long term continuity, but a lot of the work and other tasks done by either military or actual DoD employees.
No all of that is contracted. These civilian companies are paid by the military to run things like housing and barracks, and is then paid rent on top of that for their use. And that is another nightmare, as if you and your roommate do not get along, you have to make an appointment with that civilian company, and they may or may not move one of the individuals to another room.
And when I was at Fort Bliss, we have yet another problem. When checking out of the unit before then, you got up on your last day, threw everything in your car and would hand your room key to the First Sergeant before getting a handshake and kick in the butt to go away. Now, as part of the check-put process you have to clear the room normally 2-4 days prior to your final day. That means you literally have to rent a room in a hotel for your last week. Because that civilian company has already taken your key, that's their room and you can't be in there anymore.
One of my largest frustrations my last decade in was being stationed at Camp Parks. A large training base near Baghdad by the Bay. Now there were over a dozen barracks there, ranging from open squad bays to 1-2 man rooms. And most of them were empty, they were never used. Meanwhile, each drill weekend we would have to arrange a hundred or so rooms at the Hilton or some other hotel for everybody that did not live within 50 miles of the base.
Why? Because those barracks were now run by civilian contractors, and the unit had to pay to use them. And I do not bullshit here, it cost more to arrange to put 100-200 soldiers in the barracks than it did to simply pay for them to get rooms in the Hilton.
And do not even get me started on the teams of 3 contractors on Fort Bliss that literally did nothing but run around replacing light bulbs. It is no joke, it was determined that Soldiers were too stupid to replace light bulbs, so they had to contact Public Works if one went out. And they would then send out a team of 3 people to replace them. And no, nothing special or magical about them, just good old light bulbs and light tubes.
Want to "cut the fat" in a way that matters in the DoD? Cut out all the damned contractors that have taken over in the last three decades. We don't need 6 contractors washing dishes in a chow hall. Hell, most of the times I had Privates coming out my ass that I would have loved to send to do a month doing KP just so they would be doing something useful for their pay for a change.
I think that was the biggest change I saw in the military from 1993 when I left, and 2007 when I returned. In the 1980s and early 1990s, there were few civilians on most bases and most of them were DoD employees. When I returned, there were civilians everywhere and most were contractors. And being paid far more than the military and DoD employees they replaced.
