Comments on: Panel Warns Of DoD ‘Train Wreck’

By: webersgt.usmc

webersgt.usmc — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 02:24:06 +0000

well said Nelson right on.

By: Vet

Vet — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:00:24 +0000

You are so misinformed! Get knowledge and stop believing everything someone is telling you.

By: VET

VET — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:51:59 +0000

spoken like likea true racist who only see white, I got news for you buddy you can hate on that man all you want, but what russia and china are waiting for, is for you and people who think like you to do is make the ultimate mistake and divide this country to a point of no return, then see how much stronger America will be. IDIOT!

By: Gordon of Khartoum

Gordon of Khartoum — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 12:11:46 +0000

After 21 years DoD civilan and USMC, if you aren't circumventing the system, you aren't trying hard enough. The whole acquisition system is manned by people who generally know little about anything beyond its NSN while the military falls over backward for every slippery salesman. It's a major problem, having to have a major, stnadardized technical complex with military officers at the top who have no experience in industry, science, technology or balancing a checkbook: they don't know what's possible or what needs to be fixed, much less how to fix it, and the DoD civilians seem, on the whole, discouraged to the point of just not caring, anymore. The remedy every CO seems to adopt, is to find new ways to punish the civilians rather fix problems he can't even understand. I was a MArine, I used to be proud of being "on the Team" with the Army and Af until about 5 years ago, when I realized that I had too much time in to just toss it. Oh well!

By: JetDoc

JetDoc — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 03:14:18 +0000

Great reply OMGU812… totally agree…

By: JetDoc

JetDoc — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 03:11:43 +0000

HasBeen the person who said that is clearly not in the DOD contracting business… I can tell you from experience that the DCAA (contracts goverment auditing agency) goes to great lengths to ensure what they call “price reasonableness”… and they nickle and dime contractors to great pains at times getting the cost of the product down.… so I would venture to guess the company that marks it up 10 fold is likely not doing business with the DOD… and we should be extremely skeptical to begin with when it is “I talked to some that talked with someone that knows…” recommend sticking to first hand knowledge and leave the hear-say to the gossip rags…

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 21:17:54 +0000

After 8 consecutive years of Bushbuddies, you are blaiming Obama for our procurement mess? Get real! These contracts were let during previous administrations, leaving our current government officials to straighten it out. Cronyism in procurement is long standing and costs us, the tax payer, big bucks! Lay the blame squarely where it belongs on whomever negotiated and let these contracts and stop being a political hack.

By: Tamara

Tamara — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:23:43 +0000

You have no idea how contracting works if you have to ask these questions…when was the last time a military contractor but in a bid, won, and the bid came in on budget? All the time…all contractors are held to specific rates, fees, etc. set forth by the government allocating the funds. There is constant under runs to every effort and the government relies on these to apply to the next effort as the defense budget continues to be cut.
If there are high amount of failures on equipment then the government will ask for new builds. Yes, a lot of our equipment is older, but it is fully mission capable. Why you would be–should be screaming if our government was constantly replacing working equipment unnecessarily. Educate yourself…

By: D. Marut

D. Marut — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:54:53 +0000

Dan I totally agree with you on this its about greed and which congressman or senator gets the biggest cut of the pie. Take for instance the KC-X problem and the F-35 problem these two alone are going to sink our budget farther into a black hole. thats just my opion but hey what do I know just a 21 year retired AF. And a 13 year contractor with Lockheed Martin.

By: Champ

Champ — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:56:43 +0000

This month’s Air Force magizine has a chart that shows the number of retired military that are recieiving pensions.. We are paying 50 billion a year for them. The chart is astonsihing that it shows that 2 million retired military are collecting retirenet checks. I would love to see another chart that shows how any aof them are pulling down their second salaries serving as civilians in the governemtn and thsoe working asa contractors on military contracts. I bet you that of the 2 million ther are probably a few hundred thousand who have jobs pulling in another 50 billion as consultants, Pms, etc. The defense bloated budgets are making them rich. I agree with Gates lets buy hardware, not hot air. Ban power point charts, consiltants, analysts, experts. The legacy way of running the cold war machine is a thing of the past. We need new blood, new ideas and less OH B.S.

By: William L. Sasman

William L. Sasman — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:34:21 +0000

Our military needs the best equipment and money to get by. With Obama cutting them off from the equipment and money we will go down the drain. Mr. Gates should know that but being a obama flunky he goes with the flow of the white house. Instead of us and our pals having the equipment the taliban and Al qreda have better equipment then us. When a country is fighting a war as we the military does not need to be cut down or get less equipment.

By: toolman

toolman — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:31:57 +0000

I used to work for DOD and one of my main self directed jobs was reeling in costs for the Navy repair program. I tried in vain to prevent the shipyards from reinventing the entire equipment lists to perform the same job over and over.
Every time a ship arrives at a shipyard, for repair, the individual machine shops manufacture equipment over and over again. They refuse to use equipment already made and ready to use because another yard made them. My female group head was celebrated for anything she did expecially the wrong things because she was female in a male’s job. That was all that mattered to anyone afraid to object. I objected and proved over 1.6 million in wasted charges she supported just to make sure work was steady at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
There are warehouses full of this equipment and it grows every year never to seldom to be used again.
This is for just one repair department and is one of the items that cost the tax payers so much in the DOD budget. There are thousands of departments so you do the math.

By: Steve Storey

Steve Storey — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:15:44 +0000

Been with DOD 37 years. Who would of thought that the government would sacrifice our men and women in the services for billions of dollars in give away programs. I’ve seen it for too long. I’m working for someone else. I might as well get paid: go to the nearess housing project and ask them how much do you need. Is there ever going to be an end? Free housing, medical, child care, drugs, etc.. is not the answer. Let’s see how much more the government can spend and when this country will simply fade away because of some power seekers in the legislature.

By: WayfarerX

WayfarerX — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:39:16 +0000

The “Dollar is mightier than the sword”. Sending those worthless dollars is a problem and that came from long term neglect. The problem is productivity, that is a private investment, manufacturing, production, service and government failure that starts at the local level. We takeoff on issues at the federal level like it’s the only place that counts. If 50 states will allow the housing market to fall, will they also sit back and let our security fall? The President has great responsibility but where does your local and state stand on the issue? Is it even an issue? No, the people having a Beverage Party are worried about the President’s birthplace and not the shipping containers that come in unchecked. If this, ship building and other problems exists, is it for the President to break away from diving to fix BP’s leak and to go to each port to shore that up? What are the states contributing to a solution? Reports show most are considered inadequate to function as 21st Century business ready and that is a problem that goes to making the stuff for the inventory, in terms of quantity, quality and cost. Have a shot of that tea while the states talk to that issue, which has much to do with the value of the Dollar.

By: WayfarerX

WayfarerX — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:17:59 +0000

Modernizing military equipment is not a stand alone issue. It goes hand-in-hand with economic recovery in a national strategy. We are paying the price for not having a strategy. The nation was placed in a war that had little value other than the objective of looting the treasury. We drew on the National Guard and exhusted anything that could move to play catch up. That caught up with us as the greed from the banks nearly caused a global financial collaspe. A military rebuilding in times when the policy for recovery is still unstable has to be coordinated as a growth strategy and that is not happening as long as the political posturing is going on. F-22 here, F-35’s there and tankers to support how many and for what? Yes, we have a need. The congress is just doing stuff and it is political. Who can bring a serious concern to the table and good sense prevails to solve it?

By: WayfarerX

WayfarerX — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:01:59 +0000

Where’s the money? The idea is to recover and hold on to as much ground as possible.

By: WayfarerX

WayfarerX — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 22:59:23 +0000

Results of Republican fiscal policy that nearly collapsed the economy. Weaken the military more; no do what you must to save the ship.

By: BMiller

BMiller — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:42:04 +0000

The Billions; hundreds of Billions each year go to rent and improving something we won’t own ever; where every nickel buys time and access, put that into a collasel platform where instead of hundreds of places around the world work together to do our will; a logistical nightmare when only tens of locations take their place making a savings at every comparison of question. We would have locations around the world; do it now before countries claim vast sections of ocean above and below the surface. Instead of Embassies taking the lead our platform (sovereign US territory/state/property), These installations are to be staging facilities of all logistical support meeting food; fuel; ammo; eqipment, and hospitals. Safe sattelite installation; just putting the one world government closer to the people.

By: BMiller

BMiller — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:41:21 +0000

The number of military installations around the world we stage from on our global reach requires accomodations that house the military members families,all the support personnel who maintain the installation, the military police, the Environmental Protection Team not to forget the obligation to the countries where we dump tax dollars so the area civilians can provide entertainment off post (all kinds) some not spoke of exhist so we can feel good about what we do. The facilities have hospitals and Schools for the kids and programs for the the military members spouse to keep them busy. My point is we need to build floating platforms so large no threat can harm it; the ultimate facility where families do work there making for a closer connection.

By: TY_HI

TY_HI — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:43:31 +0000

The difference is partially due to their cheaper labor force (e.g., lower payscale for their soldiers, far less benefits, etc), less higher tech equipment, lower R&D costs for modernization (reliant on other nations tech with a smaller indigenous group to expand tech) lower cost equipment, less high cost equipment to procure maintain (e.g., Aircraft Carrier Battlegroups, B-2s, etc.), less global policing / power projection and probably the lack of a use it or lose it spending policy from the dumb ages.