Defense is a HUGE WASTE AND FRAUD program, and a Bring HOME THE BACON from congress critters of both parties.
I’m on our Navy base at least once a week as hubby is Ret. SCPO, and we use the now OVER priced Exchange and Commissary while waiting for our Scripts to be filled. We were DoD MANDATED as Tricare Life to use the base pharmacy or Express Scripts for our daily meds, in 2015 as a trial and in 2016 they made it MANDATORY. Only exception is if base pharmacy is closed, or it’s a ER 1 time script, then you can use a private pharmacy. And believe me the base pharmacy is closed every Fed holiday, and weekends or training days, or change of duty training. It will be closed this Fri and Monday for Memorial day, that is a 4 day closing period, and there is now a 3 hr wait for Script fills, Express Scripts is worse 2 weeks on a first fill and 2 weeks on refills just shoved in your NON secured mail box and NO ID Sign for.
The Exchange roof had a leak, they REMODELED the whole store all by the Pharmacy, which needed to be made Handicap friendly and enlarged. Put in $7K speed bumps in Commissary and Exchange parking lots, speed is 5 mph. And they ticket you if you park the wrong way, much less speed. Saw a lot of useless statues of anchors and other things put in too, just decorations not to honor any one. Why are we doing Rent a Guards for the gates we have Troops that can do that, that are already paid and better trained. Only when on high alert do you see actual Military Police on the gates.
“Why are we doing Rent a Guards for the gates we have Troops that can do that, that are already paid and better trained.”
This has gone on DoD wide since the Bill Clinton years when they started reducing numbers of active duty military to the bare bones.
Numerous jobs, such as rent-a-cops, are contract workers. It was explained to me that once a contract is up, there is nothing in the future to pay for. Whereas a career military person will have a pension and medical benefits to pay for long after retirement.
I personally agree with you. A career military person is devoted to the job, is under full control of the commander, and can be moved to another base in a matter of hours.
Another benefit of career military men (at least when I was in) is regardless of military occupational specialty, he can be readily converted to an infantryman. This was the case in Vietnam, where cooks and drivers found themselves on the perimeter with the rest. As a REMF I was on the line plenty. You just cannot take todays contract cook, give her/him a rifle, and send them out to the perimeter.