I'm Pissed

[blacknblue]

Not surprised at all. But highly pissed nonetheless.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070525/ap_ ... tical_gear

[JadziaKathryn]

Shameful. Absolutely shameful.

[CX]

Doesn't surprise me either, just like cutting corners in the VA hospitals.

[Linda]

Well, I have tried not to be too political, but the current administration seems to f*ck up all over the place. New Orleans being one example. It seems the administration thinks material items are to be conserved but people are expendable. Gross generalization, yes, but I am so tired of hearing about young people (and not so young) dying over there for a cause that seems futile.

[Rigil Kent]

Deleted by original poster ... not that it matters since I've been quoted.

[blacknblue]

Chill RIgil. I have a solution to propose. We move the HQ for the civs in charge of acquisition over to Baghdad. Set their main office down right in the heart of the most active fire zone. Guarantee that the equipment requests would get expedited MUCH faster.

[Elessar]

Oh, for frak's sake. Read the article before you starting throwing out the usual "Bush is Bad" tripe. "It blamed the bureaucracy and a "risk-averse" approach by acquisition officials." "Civilian middle management lacks technical and operational currency."

Forgive me if this offends, but I'm getting sick and freaking tired of people automatically blaming the Bush administration for a failing of the system that has been there as long as there has been a military. Remember the story of Washington and his supply woes? I served in the Army under the first Bush administration and Clinton. You know what? This same crap existed then too. My unit went to Desert Shield/Desert Storm without a lot of the gear that we should have had because of the same stupid bureaucracy that existed. My dad - who was a POW in Korea - told me that the same thing existed when he was serving, so pointing at the president and blaming him is flat out absurd.

And yet, despite knowing all that crap, if my knee wasn't flat out FUBARed to the point that the military won't accept me back, I'd still re-enlist because I don't adhere to the belief that these operations are futile. War is hard. It always has been. It's ugly and brutal and bloody and people die in them. I shudder to think what the current American mindset would say if we had the casualty counts of something like WW2 where we lost something like a 1000 guys on a training accident.

And exactly why does the flat out incompetent mayor of New Orleans get a pass? Suddenly, his failings are passed on without even a second look.

Yeah, I'm a little irked. I come here in the hopes of avoiding this sort of crap that seems to permeate every place I go. I'd hate to have to walk away from this place too.

Well, I have tried not to be too political, but the current administration seems to f*ck up all over the place. New Orleans being one example. It seems the administration thinks material items are to be conserved but people are expendable. Gross generalization, yes, but I am so tired of hearing about young people (and not so young) dying over there for a cause that seems futile.

A warning to both posters - keep it on topic. This article is about Marines getting their gear and the attitudes in the military logistical structure that lead to failures to do so. Keep it on that topic or I'll lock the thread and start bustin heads.

-Elessar

[TSara]

Well after spending 4 years active Army....and at times not having cleaning supplies OR toilet Paper for that matter I'm not surprised at all.

Doesn't matter who is in office folks...... I served under 2 administrations (one of each political party) and under both administrations our military struggled to get supplies.....our government as a whole is so big that at times it can't get it's act together and fix stuff.


The nature of the beast I'm afraid!!