[Cannoneer No. 4]

The acquisition system is impersonal and impervious to the urgent needs of soldiers in the field. While it is frequently the target of Congressional attack, in many ways it is also the perfect creation of the Congress. The system has been built to be responsive to the priorities of politicians, not the priorities of soldiers.

The blowhards on the Hill will try to make political hay out of this, but a big reason that the bureaucrats have screwed this up is that the Congress wrote the acquisition laws so that they could meddle in the process to ensure that their constituents get a cut of the action. The system is set up so that acquisition guys can't make quick, common sense decisions.

[centurion316]

Pretty much sums it up