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| Gates Proposal Reveals His Alienation From Procurement System | ||
| 2009-04-07 | ||
Within weeks, and after some pointed demands for the MRAPs from Capitol Hill, Gates decided to make accelerated production of the vehicles his top priority, using a special task force that circumvented the department's normal purchasing methods -- and the initial opposition of the Army and the Marine Corps. The results were not perfect -- an inspector general's report said later that in its rush, the department overspent by tens of millions of dollars -- but they were effective: Thousands of additional MRAPs flooded into Iraq and fatality rates dropped precipitously. Aides say that the experience was like a baptism for Gates into the weirdness of the Pentagon's weapons-procurement system, which experts have long assailed for buying the wrong arms and paying far too much. Hired by President George W. Bush mostly to fix the Iraq war, Gates initially left key buying decisions to his deputy, Gordon England. But they say Gates's decision to buy more MRAPs and a similarly frustrating battle to build more unmanned aerial vehicles for use in Iraq persuaded him that he would have to wade deeply into the procurement mess. Gates concluded that "the building was not being responsive to the requests for these vehicles," his spokesman, Geoff Morrell, said. In calling yesterday for "a dramatic change in the way we acquire military equipment," Gates showed his slow but palpable alienation from the so-called iron triangle of defense contractors, lawmakers and military service executives that has long promoted building the best weapons systems, no matter what the price. In the future, he said, weapons should be engineered to counter "the actual and prospective capabilities of known future adversaries," not what a potential adversary might create with "unlimited time and resources."
But Gates sees this year as a rare opportunity to pursue politically controversial ideas, one of his top aides said, largely because of two factors. First, President Obama's repeated claim that procurement reforms can increase efficiency and save expenses across the government will provide "top cover" for Gates in his head-butting with a group of service chiefs that proposed last year to alleviate their woes by adding tens of billions of dollars to the budget instead of making hard choices or undertaking major reforms. Second, Gates feels the nation's woeful economic status will give him added leverage in beating back attempts on Capitol Hill to continue financing weapons that troops don't need or want. "It is important to remember that every defense dollar spent to overinsure against a remote or diminishing risk, or in effect to run up the score" is a dollar that might otherwise be spent on troops or winning the wars we are in, Gates said yesterday. To some military experts, the two-year wait for Gates to take such a step since his December 2006 appointment has been long. Kori Schake, a National Security Council staff member during the Bush administration and adviser to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, said that "with the important exception of his emphasis on MRAP acquisition, he submitted two budgets and several supplemental spending requests that were straight-line extensions of previous spending." Now, Schake said, Gates has called for ruthlessly separating appetites from real requirements, but Congress may "serve him up his own previous justifications for the very programs he proposes to cut." | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #10 Pappy, I think he was coming out of the bar following multiple shots. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2009-04-07 20:32 |
| #9 Military pay will be stripped, with married personnel being RIF'd. Were you at lunch when you wrote that, Perfesser? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-04-07 14:25 |
| #8 Anyone not familiar with the wonderment of the US Defense Acquisition system should look at DoDI 5000.02 Operation of the Defense Acquisition System. http://www.theriac.org/pdfs/DoDI%205000-02%20(Official%20Signed%20Version)%202%20Dec%202008.pdf |
| Posted by: rwv 2009-04-07 12:50 |
| #7 Yeps, not only that, Social Security and Medicare Part D are the biggest creators of deficit in the U.S. currently. These very well could be cut which is a terrifying thought for those who are affected. The U.S. is going to go back to a dark age in our history unless some real reforms take place. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-04-07 11:06 |
| #6 The truth of the Defense budget is that it is going to lead the way with budget cuts. The Pentagon saw this from a mile away, and has been planning for it for at least a year. The Barney Frank estimate is a 25% reduction in the budget. But long term, more likely 50%. Operations & Maintenance ($180B) - Pull US forces from as many overseas missions as possible. Military Personnel ($125B) - Military pay will be stripped, with married personnel being RIF'd. Most enlisted will work for just a small stipend, room & board and medical. And not that unhappy, as national unemployment could reach 50%. Procurement ($104B) and R&D ($80B) - Also get hit, except for critical systems and paper design. However, this being said, Defense will do better than the other big 3 budget items. Social Security is likely dead within 2 years. Medicare and Medicaid in around that same time frame or a little longer. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-04-07 10:44 |
| #5 ...and don't forget the intrusive procedures and requirements that Congress dictates requiring loads of expense and time to procure. You just can't go down to Sears and pick up a Craftsman hammer [even though it would make both physical and financial sense to do so in some instances]. Add to that, the institutional unwillingness to ruthlessly make examples of those who do abuse the system "pour encourager les autres", that results in more paper, more regulation, more time consumed. 'Ah, it's our fault because we didn't protect the poor darling from himself'. Bah! |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-04-07 10:03 |
| #4 Yes indeed that evil Pentagon acquisitions crowd rewarding their constituents and voters with military contract pork, unneeded C-130J, Osprey and the like. [snark off] |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-04-07 07:47 |
| #3 That's biggest fault that Rumfeld had IMO. He was cluess that US could put in field several diferent armored vehicles in WW2 every year but with today billions could not replace a mere HMMVV... One of big problems of USA is red tape and mentality. You guys changed from a people of doer's to beaurocrats enamourated of processes. |
| Posted by: Large Snerong7311 2009-04-07 05:56 |
| #2 I know some people who's going to be happy. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-04-07 04:55 |
| #1 Gates just killed the prez helicopter, he killed ARH, he fixed MRAP. He understands the contractor gravy train and is killing it. Good for him. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-04-07 01:05 |