Posted on 12/06/2016 5:41:08 AM PST by NYer
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."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Can anyone with a career military background comment?
Time for the next pres to go to the pentagon and clean house. This is only one reason.
Funding strong defense is one thing, funding waste and mismanagement another.
Downsizing a bloated government entity.
What a concept.
OK, I believe it readily.
Cutting there will provide many replacement workers for jobs emptied by the coming deportations. Good, honest work.
I don’t have a military background, but I am sure this is just the tip of the iceberg. Ike was right. The military is incredibly important, but the waste, fraud and abuse is also huge. The worst of all is when weapons manufacturers press for more military action. But the theft from taxpayers also ends up stealing freedom and costing lives.
How many Americans who can’t afford their healthcare costs under Obamacare and high taxes don’t get the care they need until something treatable has gone too long?
While I'm not sure of the need for a million of them, I see nothing wrong with using civilians and contractors for office work.
> Can anyone with a career military background comment?
A lot of it probably is reallocated for the dark spy programs, so it’s off the books.
Then again, Obama spending $5 million of Pentagon money for trips to Hawaii doesn’t help either.
Ping!
How much of this is mandated bloat from on high. Diversity programs. Breast Cancer research. Small/disadvantaged business set-asides. Hell, re-doing the entire Navy Enlisted Rating system. . .
Drive around northern Virginia and see how many big shiny new office buildings have gone up since 2001.
Fairview Park in Falls Church is a great example
Drive around northern Virginia and see how many big shiny new office buildings have gone up since 2001.
Fairview Park in Falls Church is a great example
Right on the money.
Hiding waste is universal, why do we need military people commenting? Activities such as this go on all over the country. For example, ever notice how many schools and colleges “purge” perfectly good and usable equipment as their physical year end approaches? In order to maintain their budget levels, new and better equipment “need” replacing so the budget levels remain high. Tell me again about no waste in our schools and colleges. This is typical in numerous “public” organizations because its someone elses money.
Hiding waste is universal, why do we need military people commenting? Activities such as this go on all over the country. For example, ever notice how many schools and colleges “purge” perfectly good and usable equipment as their physical year end approaches? In order to maintain their budget levels, new and better equipment “need” replacing so the budget levels remain high. Tell me again about no waste in our schools and colleges. This is typical in numerous “public” organizations because its someone elses money.
Michelle Obama is also paying for the kids school meals from a DOD budget. That should come from some other department, not DOD
I retired from the military in 2013 after 26 years. I believe this article enforces the opinion many have of “if we don’t spend all our money we won’t get as much next year.”
I’ve been in units that buy the most ridiculous crap when me and another NCO were scavenging for spent casings and clips to piece together a belt of “practice ammo” to teach Soldiers how to load and unload crew served weapons. While at the same time the CO’s secretary gets a complete new set of office furniture.
Just look at the number of General and Flag officers in the military, relative to the total personnel. That will give you an idea just how bloated the US military is.
Based upon ONLY what was posted as an exerpt:
The Federal Government has run for as long as I can remember on the budget theory, “if you didn’t spend all of your money, then you didn’t actually need it.” Thus causing good managers to spend end of year funds on what maybe be wasteful items. That budgeting process is detrimental to good budgeting procedures. Also, the cuts and/or additions to budgets need to be made based upon examining each service and program. It is easy to say “cut 10% across the board” but that leads to some cuts where ‘fat’ is truly trimmed and other areas where it is ‘muscle and bone’ being cut which ends up being harmful.
During and/or after the Vietnam War, the DoD shifted to using contractors to fill military positions as a means to reduce the numbers of military service members. The theory was that civilian contractors were cheaper, especially if a large number of the military stayed on active duty to their retirement date 20-30 years later.
There is wasteful spending within the DoD, it is just figuring out/digging out what is waste and what is needed.
Well said. And “if we don’t spend all our money we won’t get as much next year.” is why the CO’s secretary got the new furniture at the end of the year, because the CO, to ensure he didn’t run out of money before the year ended, scrimped on spending training funds. I well remember when in the final quarter of the year, there was no money to buy toilet paper and cleaning supplies for the barracks....and then in the last 2 weeks money suddenly showed up with “spend this quickly so we don’t lose it in next year’s budget.”
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