Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: jonrick46

“Do you think we spend too much on national defense?”

I was in the defense/industrial complex for 33 years. The answer is yes and no. Give me line item and contract item veto and I’d supply you with the same amount of material and technology for significantly less. Plot the purchasing on any major project and you’d have a map of the entire United States. To get funding the booty is spread into as many congressional districts as possible. For example, on how important location of jobs is, a company called Spray Cool located their plant right next to the home of the Congressman who headed the budget committee. We ended up using their ridiculous technology even though we’d proven it didn’t work. It was part of the contracts we got. So, we had to go ahead and design replacements for their part of the project, which severely affected schedule and cost. We were still buying their failed products even thought we’d proven they didn’t work. Then, every contract has gay and lesbian outreach programs, diversity programs and all kinds of special socialist propaganda training. Companies love these adders as profit is a percentage of costs.

As bleeding edge technology is very expensive companies will reach for the sky because even if it fails it may be useful on other unrelated projects and, as noted, the higher the expense the better off the company.

There are hundreds of little changes that could be made to save money. For example, we’re told to use only components that have been in production for x years. Usually, this means by the time you are building the actual hardware, say, three years after you proposed it and tested the beta units, the components are not available. The company knows this going in, but says nothing as redesigns are just funding gravy.

I could go on, but it’s pointless. Everybody knows what’s wrong with the system and how to make everything cheaper, but nobody wants to make those changes. And, if you need someone’s vote and they tell you to use fuel made from unicorn pee, you’ll gladly use fuel made from unicorn pee.


21 posted on 02/12/2022 11:29:52 AM PST by Gen.Blather (Wait! I said that out loud. Sorry.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: Gen.Blather

Very insightful post.

For a breakdown on spending the big items in 2019 were:

* Operations and maintenance $258 billion
* Military Personnel $153 billion
* Procurement $97 billion
* Research and Development $63

It’s certain we could shave a fair amount off procurement, but it is operations and maintenance where real savings would need to be found.


24 posted on 02/12/2022 11:41:29 AM PST by Renfrew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies ]

To: Gen.Blather

Oh, yeah, maintenance. At the end of every budget period, we’d get a flurry of orders for stuff that would never be used. Why? To spend the budget so they’d get that much next year. How much of the overall was wasted? No idea. But the purchases came often enough that from what I saw, it was a pretty good percentage.

Another thing that would change the whole calculous is this. You may have a multiyear contract for, say 1000 items. But the money is allocated by the year. That means every item is hand built...no automation because you’d need the allocation for the total number of items in a multiyear contract to be certain and not at the whim of Congress every twelve months. So, no automation.


26 posted on 02/12/2022 11:50:07 AM PST by Gen.Blather (Wait! I said that out loud. Sorry.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies ]

To: Gen.Blather
General Blather:

Thanks for your interesting post which seems to explain the FedGov's problem with full frontal nudity, violence, magical situations, [and] possible pole dancing.

(Your book covers are great too.)

With best regards and congratulations.

27 posted on 02/12/2022 11:50:56 AM PST by jigsaw (God Bless Our Wonderful Troops.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson