Bring back the draft and eliminate the over-abundance of $100K+ contractors.
When I was in most of the administrative logistical stuff was performed by GIs. Six weeks of basic was enough to get most on board. They were E1s and 2s paid a stipend. The overpaid contractors and CEOs today are connected politically to insiders. We need Americans connected to the USA and having a nation that broadly serves including the NYC Harvard elites, does that. Get rid of the contractors and we would retain the most competent in service and save billions.
“Bring back the draft and eliminate the over-abundance of $100K+ contractors.”
There is a reason we use so many contractors and DOD civilians. We have the most technologically advanced fighting force in the world. The equipment we use is often complicated and sensitive, requiring specialized skills and equipment to maintain. You can’t keep rotating in 18 year old kids to keep this stuff going (other than for basic maintenance). You have to have professionals who know the equipment like the back of their hands and who know how to keep it working or how to get it repaired (through National Maintainance or Organically) quickly, efficiently and correctly. Front line maintainers do a great job but they do not have the skills, equipment or facilities to keep advanced equipment (especially electronics) in continual working order.
In the adminstrative areas, you need civilians who will stay in a position for years and become true subject matter experts. These include engineers, contract specialists, inventory managers, provisioners, financial specialists etc. These are not jobs that you can just plug a soldier into for two years and then put in a new face, expecting everything to run smoothly.
Contractors are doing non military type work and this frees up the GIs to actually fight. For example take grass cutting on base. Back when the military had almost 3 million troops we had tons of GIs so we cut the grass and did all the custodial work in the offices.
That is not the case now. You don't have the bodies to spare to do non military work like cutting grass. It's cheaper and makes more sense to pay a contractor to do it.
Get rid of the contractors and you have to pull people to do these details. The grass would be cut but that airplane, tank or ship will not get fixed.