Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests private wariors

What you don't want to go back and blame Ronnie Reagan? After the "threat" of the Soviet Union came to an end people saw no need to maintain a huge military presence and the expense that went with it. So when they(Republicans and Democrats) decided to balance the budget it was only natural that one of the biggest budgets was going to get cut. Don't worry all those retired generals are doing just fine now in their new higher paying jobs!
You might like to say it was part of some Liberal master plan so you feel like you have someone to blame but in reality that's not the case.

Not a master plan, but more along the lines of "whoops, didn't think THAT would happen." I don't disagree that budget-cutting was necessary, but to slash budgets the way that they were done and then act surprised now that it takes significant efforts from outside contractors just shows that there's a general lack of understanding of logistics.

See, they COULD have cut a few high-budget programs that were already looking like they'd be out of date before ever being fielded. The Comanche helicopter, for example, cost billions of dollars but wasn't ever going to prove to be of any greater value than the UAVs that also were taking on the covert surveillance role, and Comanche wasn't any more survivable against the low-tech RPG/machine gun threat than the helicopters it was supposed to replace. The Crusader artillery system was another high-dollar project that would have some cool technology but also was going to be too heavy to airlift and not a big improvement over the modern artillery+precision airpower combination. Cutting those two programs would have freed up a lot of budget for lower-echelon deals, but it's a lot easier to sell the gee-whiz high-tech stuff over the beans & bullets that haven't changed much since WWII.

What I'd be interested in seeing is a projection of how much it would have cost the govt to keep the military operating in the way it was (and especially if they incorporated some smart cuts like I've mentioned) versus what the contracts with KBR, Blackwater, etc. are costing over a specific time period.

I can agree with that but as far as the projects that are obsolete before there complete go that's somebodies pork and they're not going to kill that. That would mean they would have to pay their own way on that 4 week fact finding mission to the Bahamas! (Yes I'm talking about all politicians)

I'd love to see that breakdown myself but you and I both know that's never going to happen. Not an honest breakdown anyway!
Did you hear the one Commander(I think) they talked to? He said those contracted meals cost $20 a plate! Now I don't begrudge our guys anything because of the job they're doing over there but I think you can go to Olive Garden for less and you get all the salad and bread you want!

Let's not even get into Haliburton(and it's subsidiaries) and the no-bid contracts!