Comments on: Obama’s 100 Day Report Card

By: matt tillmer

matt tillmer — Sat, 02 May 2009 14:24:37 +0000

by agressively trying to improve u.s.relations with the world and to be a deeper thorn in the sides of our adversaries,president obama also does not fear the continued use of sending in our military to do its job..improving our relations with the world will get more of an alliance of countries to achieve our collective goals instead of an,“either your with us or against us”,ATTITUDE…

unlike the last 8 years,he understands that it is wise to develope an entrance and an exit strategy,and to have goals of achievement set up to define what our objectives for the use of the military would be..
president bush did not..

president obama is not another president clinton,mr.hembree,he won’t lesson the rate of gear sent to the troops.as a matter of fact,the he already has signaled that he will have the neccessary armor to protect humvees,more protective body armor,and a clearer mission for the troops that he is sending to Afghanistan,before they even set foot in the country..

By: Richard Hembree

Richard Hembree — Sat, 02 May 2009 07:27:33 +0000

I thought we learned a thing or two under Clintons Presidency, like a poor ready rate of a warriors gear and transportation is unacceptable. The technology first attitude is hard to overcome apparently. The air that we so need to control for a successful battle space is pretty much taken care of with tried and true air frames that have been in operation for years, so long as our gps sats. are not attacked. It seems like MR. Obama should look a little further ahead into the future instead of blowing the budget on testing new air frames.

By: Charles Phillips, LtCol USAF Ret

Charles Phillips, LtCol USAF Ret — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:36:39 +0000

A serious problem that Obama has made worse is the worn condition of equipment in the military.

Instead of buying more known F-15Es at 31 million dollars each, or almost ready F-22s at 142 million each, the Administration promises to buy F-35s at 44 million each (starting maybe in 2010, depending on successful testing). Of course between now and the end of calendar 2010 the F-35 cost will have increased by probably 5 million each.

The Obama administration is delaying a replacement for our few (and mostly very old) bombers that still will carry a lot of the load in Southwest Asia.

We will have to keep our tanks running — and will have to hope that we never need to send MRAPs into a battlefield with real tanks. The MRAP sticks up so high that even a T-72 could probably hit it.

We are adding 7000 folks to the Army — where are they going to find vehicles to travel in?

The Obama administration is telling the military to just hold it together until the second term — and then they will get the equipment they need.

By: tinytim

tinytim — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:01:05 +0000

I think he is failing to realize the root of the problem. I believe the democrats are chicken! They do not seem to understand the state of the world we live in or what it takes to survive in this type of “hatred” environment.
F

By: "T"

"T" — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:16:18 +0000

I give him a C. Mr Obama has made some good first steps, I hope he continues to follow through with more. We must provide our service men and women all the resources they need to bring an unfair fight to our enemies and defeat them totally. Our veterans and their families must be cared for and recognized for their selfless sacrifice and devotion to our country. All our service people have earned the respect and protection of America and it must start with the president himself. The president has begun and he must understand that it is just that, a beginning. As a defense contractor and veteran there is not doubt in my mind what so ever that the DoD needs a good shakeup and what the president has done so far is just a good start. The level of waste is beyond comprehension, out of control and everyone knows it. Millions are spent each year for unnecessary travel when a simple 30-minute conference call would do. The DoD procurement system is broken and almost useless. Complex programs have the wrong procurement and management personnel in charge with the wrong skill sets and the wrong focus. Defense contractors are forced to spend millions of dollars that are eventually charged back to the government to write contract proposals that are seldom reviewed in total and rarely by qualified evaluators. At the end of the day, it becomes a writing contest rather than an objective evaluation of the competing contractor’s services and products. Many DoD non-combatant activities run on their own self serving agendas and edicts rather than striving to accomplish their mission or comply with published federal rules and laws. Joint interoperability is a joke. There are hundreds of examples of new development efforts occurring when the very same thing has been completed and is operationing successfully in another service. The “not invented here or our requirements are unique” attitude cost millions and it is pervasive. The services seldom work together off the battlefield. The president and the leadership of the DoD need to continue to take a long hard look at the most basic areas of operations, support and management. Billions of dollars are wasted without a second thought because that is the way it was always done. We can’t afford that attitude any longer and the president has a unique opportunity to fix it. I hope he does for all our sakes.

By: MacMan

MacMan — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:33:35 +0000

A big fat red F.

By: Chief Houston

Chief Houston — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:08:14 +0000

Good analysis. “There is only one sacred duty that the U.S. has and that is to it’s veterans”,
Joe Biden.

It could be said that time will tell. This is one period of time unlike so many other periods that people tend to compare it to like, Roosevelt’s reign, although it was in another time and space. Not quite apples to apples.

This President, I believe has the need for speed in all the right places. Effectiveness is doing the right thing in a timely manner vs. doing something in a timely manner.

Maybe, just maybe with GM stock being owned by the U.S., we might be able to get these manufacturers on a war footing. Just what is the true value for what we pay for in military procurement. Can it be quantified in lives saves vs. cost and the best ratio wins the prize?