"Cash" is a distraction ... NOBODY in the government pays for official stuff with cash.
An Army guy paying cash, for delivery to a military site ... is buying it for himself, for his house on base.
Something fishy going on here.
Not quite. Small units spend cash all the time on equipment that our still dysfunctional supply and parts systems cannot get in a timely manner. In spite of Bush and Rummy, and their promises of 'transformation', the logistical tail of the military is still a broken beast in a lot of regards. When our unit needed placards for our embark boxes and pallets, we could sit and wait a few months for supply to get their act together - or the battery gunny could go down to Home Depot and buy about 50 pieces of plywood cut to size and ready to stencil.
You can guess which route the units are going to take.