By any measure, those that serve in America’s military are the best of the nation. They sacrifice life and limb to defend the United States. They deserve the best medical care when they return home. However, numerous investigations over the past several years have exposed a systemic cancer of mismanagement and neglect in the federal department tasked with that care.
This is What Ash Carter’s Reform Looks Like
Upon assuming the office of Secretary of Defense in February 2015, Ashton Carter prioritized recruiting private sector companies – especially those in technology industries – to bid on contracts awarded by the Department of Defense (DOD). Carter, who holds a PhD in theoretical physics and lectured at Stanford, had the chops to appeal to Silicon Valley tech mavens.
F-35 Approved for Combat, Problems Persist
The acquisition misadventures of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program have been well-documented. In development for nearly 15 years and four years behind schedule, the program is currently projected to cost $391.1 billion for 2,457 aircraft, or 68 percent more than its original estimate of $233 billion. An April 2015 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report noted that the lifetime operation and maintenance costs of the most expensive weapon system in history will total approximately $1 trillion.
Acquisition Reform Proposal Makes Waves
Acquisition horror stories are nothing new at the Department of Defense (DOD). The three most costly recent mishaps include the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is approximately $170 billion over budget and has encountered numerous problems with its software and engine design. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (ATL) Frank Kendall referred to the purchase of the F-35 as “acquisition malpractice” in February 2014. The Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship has also faced its share of problems, including concerns over its survivability, inadequate firepower, and corrosion due to a design flaw.
End the Pentagon Slush Fund
Created in 2001 to fund the war in Afghanistan and other associated costs of the Global War on Terror, the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account was intended to be a one-time emergency supplemental. Instead, it has been used as an annual funding measure, including in 2003, when the U.S. invaded Iraq.
Keep the Caps
Based on all of the bloviating around Washington, D.C., about how sequestration is inflexible and unworkable, one would assume that the entire federal budget process is about to explode. In reality, the caps on federal discretionary spending are scheduled to increase every year through fiscal year (FY) 2021; just not by as much as some would like.
Sequestration-sensitive Pentagon Misses $145M in Improper Payments
Not all improper payments are fraudulent (inadvertent expenditures are all too common in the federal government, but many are “honest mistakes” without nefarious intent), but all fraud should be considered improper.
Procurement Legacies of the Afghan War
One of the most vivid and enduring images of the U.S. departure from Vietnam remains the Navy offloading perfectly good helicopters into the South China Sea as the last of its ships sailed away. The ongoing U.S. exodus from Afghanistan has produced a similar moment, albeit for a less useful aircraft.
Rocket Monopoly
In the private sector, monopolies can charge consumers as much as they like due to a lack of competition. When the government creates a monopoly through the use of a sole source contract, the taxpayers get stuck with the tab.
The Cost of Free
Clay County, Missouri Police Captain Matt Hunter described his department’s new acquisition, a 54,000-pound, 10-foot tall vehicle known as a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (MRAP), as a “$750,000 machine that we got for absolutely nothing…taxpayers didn’t have to pay anything for it.”