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thedrifter
10-09-04, 08:18 AM
10-06-2004

Waiting for Leaders Who Really Care



By Paul Connors



When it comes to gold-plating of materiel, there is no better organization than the U.S. military. From the over-engineered weapons systems that take years to develop and get to the field to the newest design battle dress uniform for the Air Force, American generals and admirals have long been recognized as masters of the game.



You’re probably wondering what the name of that game is, but it’s not as simple as calling it baseball or football or soccer because the stakes are far higher than just a pennant, a World Series or a Super Bowl. What is at stake is far more important than all of those sports championships and the millions of dollars in revenue they generate for players, team owners and broadcast interests. What is at stake is the continued viability of our national security now and in the future.



Part of the problem rests with military procurement systems that have been firmly in place since before the Cold War. Despite the calls for procurement reform, in reality, there has been little, if any substantive correction of a system that is out of control. But the fault does not just rest with defense contractors; much of it needs to be laid at the doorstep of acquisitions officials and program managers in the Pentagon who define the need for a product or service and then control the scope and nature of the work to be performed.



The end of the Cold War provided the immediate impetus for downsizing of the nation’s military establishment. As we have written here at DefenseWatch, 40 percent of the people, half of the infrastructure and in many cases, more than 50 percent of our military hardware just went away. While the first President Bush commenced the downsizing process, it was the Clinton administration that took it to new and dangerously ridiculous extremes. Force size decreased by 40 percent, procurement all but stopped and Operations & Maintenance accounts were looted to provide funding for the Clinton “meals-on-wheels” abuse of the U.S. armed forces during the 1990s.



Military planners and procurement officials applauded the election of President George W. Bush in 2000 for the simple reason that our recent history has shown that Republican administrations have been more generous with the military than their Democratic counterparts. But has that really been the case since 2000? I often think not.



The current Secretary of Defense promised transformation even before he took his oath of office and ever since he did, senior leaders in our Army have wondered what will happen next.



Here are just some of things that Secretary Rumsfeld has done or wanted to do (and was prevented from doing by 9/11):



* Canceled the Crusader Artillery program;



* Canceled the Comanche helicopter program



* Proposed the elimination of CONUS air defense, namely the inactivation of 1st Air Force and NORAD.



* Pushed forward with a BRAC for 2005, despite the fact that we are fighting a worldwide war.



* Insisted on the continued implementation of “transformation” in the middle of a war.



* Categorically refused to increase the overall size of the Army, arguing repeatedly that we don’t need more troops.



* Fired Secretary of the Army Thomas H. White for having the temerity to disagree with his “grand vision.”



* Stripped Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shikseki of his authority and influence by naming his successor (who subsequently declined the position) a year before Shinseki’s retirement date.



* Denied any responsibility for leadership failures related to the Abu Ghraib prison prisoner abuse scandal.



The above is a short list and does not include the day-to-day details affecting the services that never make it to the mainstream media outlets.



Somewhere along the line, both our uniformed and civilian defense officials have lost their way and have taken upon themselves the mantle of military royalty. There are flag officers now occupying Saddam’s former palaces while infantry privates swelter in 135-degree heat. We have a SecDef who last wore a uniform when the U.S. Navy was still flying straight-winged jets, and whose senior assistants and service secretaries are all corporate CEOs. Many of these same folks have never worn a uniform and yet, we are supposed to trust them with our safety?



Although there has been coverage of “sweetheart” contracts for Halliburton and other large corporations that supposedly support and service our expeditionary forces, badly-needed funds for aircraft and ships, as well as their maintenance and operating funds have somehow been lost in the mix. The Air Force plans to retire 500 fighters to save funds and to allow programs like the F/A-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to go forward. Not only are we fighting around the globe, but we are doing so with increasingly aging equipment.



With all of these potential nightmares, we still hear of cases of complete and utter stupidity, including wasteful spending on the generals’ favorite projects. A case in point is one I have written about in the past, namely the ridiculous new Air Force battle dress uniform. One of the most reviled uniform designs in the history of the service, it is the brainchild of the Chief of Staff, Gen. John Jumper, who is so insecure that he really believes a new uniform will somehow make the wearer “extra special.” He is pressing forward with his pet project despite widespread dislike of the pattern and the accumulated disgust of people who will be forced to live with his decision long after he retires to some corporate board.



It is disgraceful that so much of this profligate waste does not reach the general public. It is even more disgraceful that officers who are honor bound to do the right thing for the nation, think so little of it and its people that they continue to pursue their own agendas for self-aggrandizement.



We sent 150,000 troops to Iraq, but we sent too many of them into harm’s way without adequate body armor. We don’t have enough troops to do the job, but we have a Secretary of Defense so full of himself that he continues to deny reality and refused to increase the Army’s endstrength, yielding only when Congress mandated the enlargement despite his opposition.


And we now have service chiefs so jealous of the perks they receive as four-star admirals and generals that they continue to toe the party line like the good little ”yes men” they have allowed themselves to become.



In the meantime, the uncaring continue business as usual while the snuffies in Iraq do the fighting, bleeding and dying. From a distance, it appears that no one really cares and I know in my heart of hearts that even a change of administrations will not correct a broken system.



Nothing is going to change until someone cares enough to really upset the apple cart. Just don’t hold your breath waiting for that day to come.



Paul Connors is a Senior Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at paulconnors@hotmail.com. © 2004 Paul Connors. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=659&rnd=464.34000950269717


Ellie