DA Money Pit- Part 1

   If you want to see Government waste at its worst, join the military. The legs are blown off of the budget and no one has bothered to apply a tourniquet. I want to talk about the bullshit toys and bottom-feeder helpers here; all while trying not to drop off in the conversation pitfalls they each present. I am not sure who the guy is that picks the crap we use in the infantry, but they need to take him out back and kick the shit out of him. I sure wish someone would have done us that favor for ACU's; the camouflage that blends in with ... um .. unexciting and dull grey parallelograms and quadrilaterals I guess.

   We hosted a contract that was supposed to replace the oldest serving rifle ever in our armory, for a possibly cheaper, more durable, more accurate rifle, all while shooting a more powerful round. Did we pick any one of the superior options? No, we stuck to the 5.56 mm M16 family. On a side note: I would like to equate the 5.56mm round to the Sacajawea dollar coin. It is legal tender, but who cares? A similar contract was hosted to replace the M9 BB-gun with similar results. Then came the expensive robots. I'm not going to take up large amounts of page space talking about something I hate more than terrorists, but fuck robots. They never do what is promised and always break down. Plus they are too heavy and bulky to justify bringing them on patrol for the very specified tasking they were designed for. I could go on and on  about equipment, but the Chinese like to spy on round eye, and one example is as disgusting and needlessly expensive as the next thousand.

   Next topic : Bottom feeding helpers. Civilian employment has always been a part of our Armed Forces. Some guys are top notch people that have real value and we are better and stronger for their shared knowledge and service. Others are bottom feeders that take up air and suck the life out of Soldiers and government pay. My experience has led me to the conclusion that there are plenty of below average Soldiers to fill positions currently held by civilians in made up positions. The 1SG Barracks program was designed for God knows what, and is the current problem with the conditions in the barracks today. We took a system that wasn't broken, and slit its throat. I highly doubt that E8s were so overburdened they couldn't scribble a Private's name into a room so that he could go AWOL the following day. Now to check rooms, Team Leaders are supposed to go to four rooms in three different buildings all on different floors because the entire staff at the Barracks Program didn't give a shit about unit integrity or cohesion. The Team Leader now has to listen to a barrage of excuses as to why the Private couldn't gather enough dirty shit-bags from other units to help sweep the hallway. Bang on doors you say? Sure. Bang away because the shit-bags will wait out the siege behind a locked door the Team Leader doesn't have access codes or keys for. And the mess gets bigger. Look, I'm sleepy and am tired of typing. So refer to the closing sentence in the last paragraph and interchange subjects where applicable. Three paragraphs to explain that we might as well throw money into a pit and I didn't even scratch the surface. Time well spent I'd say. -bigGuy