The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle debate’s primary focus was on the
unspoken concern of the actual cost of the mammoth vehicles. What followed was a blend of
discussions ranging from financial costs to lives cost on the battlefield. A different debate
centered on the size of the vehicles, which separated the soldiers from the population, and
counter to the idea of counterinsurgency. While the MRAP procurement was different from the
typical acquisition program, the success of the program was because of a collaborative effort by
the Department of Defense (DOD) to change the acquisition process, while contractors absorbed
financial risk to develop and build a product with no certainty of gaining a lucrative long-term
contract. While the future security of the nation relies on forces armed with the best equipment,
the United States must continue to develop and refine the acquisition process initiated during the
fielding of the MRAP. The DOD along with the legislative branch can refine the process by
removing regulations, accepting risk and avoiding any delay in equipment fielding while
working within the acquisition community to collaborate with those manufacturers willing to
produce the best weapons, equipment, and technology for the armed forces.
The strategic environment in 2004 was rapidly changing with insurgents utilizing improvised
explosive devices (IEDs) and the more lethal explosively formed penetrators (EFPs). Initial
forces entered
Consequently, the Obama Administration has silenced defense leader for a long time, so he could keep his Budget Control Act or (BCA). For example “8 years under the Obama Administration, top defense officials were largely silenced and prevented from articulating their concerns about budget cuts and decreased readiness”(Cooper pg1). The Obama Administration neglected top defense officials, which has resulted in “Army has lost more than 205,000 soldiers, or 30 percent of its staff”(Spencer). Nevertheless, this has also resulted in “3 of 58 Army brigade combat teams are considered ready for combat”(Cooper). Conversely, Obama cut down the military so far that America has 150,000-225,000 troops ready in the Army when all of our combat teams should be ready for combat, so that the armed forces can protect America’s interests at home and abroad. Moreover, the Army is not the only who has experienced decreased readiness, for example, there have been budget cuts across the board which have resulted in “The Air Force is the smallest and oldest it has ever been”(Cooper). “80 percent of the United States Marine Corps or (USMC) do not have the minimum number of aircraft they need for training and basic operations”(Cooper). “The Navy’s fleet is the smallest it has been in nearly 100 years”(Cooper). “Maintenance period will increase costs 2.6 times”(Pickup). Accordingly, all parts of the Armed forces have experienced budget cuts
In order to advance the vital interests of the United States, we need a military that is equipped with best of everything and the backing of a nation to use them to defend our national interests and goals when needed.
In a 2015 article, “Is U.S. military becoming outdated?” written by Stuart Bradin, Keenan Yoho, and Meaghan Keeler-Pettigrew, the authors argued that despite the U.S. military maintaining a position of global dominance “without peer” during conventional operations, it is not the ideal force against current and future threats. The authors claim that there are several negative factors arising due to the past sixteen years of war against several state and non-state elements, inferior cultural differences of government bureaucracy compared to commercial firms, and a misallocation of defense spending that leaves the US military waging war inefficiently while simultaneously losing technological dominance against current and future threats.
The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MCVARA) is a subcommittee under The Appropriations Committee. The Appropriations Committee reviews and approves budget requests (funding legislation) from MCVARA. Once the funding legislation is reported to and approved by the Senate, the Senate works with the House to have the legislation approved and passed by the beginning of the fiscal year which falls on October 1st.
In an effort to provide protection for our international interest our political leadership point of view is to show militaristic prowess. Mr. Bacevich has mentioned several examples regarding excessive spending within the Department of Defense (DOD) that dwarfs those of America’s closest allies. Also noted, Mr. Bacevich explained that the Navy maintains several large attack aircraft carriers; however, in the battle fleets of the world, there is no ship even comparable to a Nimitz-class carrier. The question is “why do we continue to move away from the general principle to maintain the minimum force required.” I think because we are living in a capitalist society the power of money is at the forefront. The DOD is an industrial military conglomerate.
This includes finalized mutual assistance agreements that allow effective allocation and activation of neighboring state National Guard forces. As the U.S. embarks or responds to operations abroad, the reduction in the ability to accomplish the homeland security mission advances the importance of mutual assistance agreements. Additionally, the U.S. Northern Command is responsible for finalizing the plan for ensuring balance between the National Guard forces at home or abroad through coordination with integral federal agencies (Laurent, 2004). Thorough coordination will alleviate the various funding issues, as the Guard has limited access to Department of Homeland Security grants. In 2008, the RAND Corporation reported the “ratio between military and non-military national security spending” was 17 to 1 respectively (2008, p. 2). As Gregory Jaksec (2006) makes evident in his report, the solution to balance funding for non-military national security requires an alignment between private and federal sectors through incentives that promote capital investment in homeland
The United States military has never been as weak as it is under Barack Obama. In a time where the world is getting more dangerous every day, whether it is the growing threat of ISIS, Russia or North Korea, the current president insists on continuously making cuts to the military. According to an independent panel appointed by the pentagon and congress, “the shrinking U.S. armed forces, which are being downsized to fit that strategy and budget cuts, is a serious strategic misstep on the part of the United States and is inadequate given the future strategic and operational environment.” This essentially means that these cuts are weakening the military so much, that it will be ineffective to deal with global threats.
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Observers do not need to look far for the signs of a military-industrial complex that has become too powerful and involved in politics. The Army has repeatedly attempted to halt the production and spending on new tanks. The Air Force has spent almost $400 billion on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, nearly double the initial estimate. If the relationship between civilian and military leaders is to be mended, leadership decisions must not be influenced by the military-industrial
The article talks about the influence of lobbyist on congress, and the big players like Lockheed in taking billions in tax payer money for unessential military contracts. The author also stresses former president Eisenhower’s words about a strong military complex taking away liberty from the people. The influence is on congress from 100 contractors and their lobbyist on our politicians for appropriating contracts in the billions.
The contract is: the corporations signing the contract will receive benefits after the war from the government, but they need to transform their productions in their factories to war
The current session and all the discussions about the very old Power Games, Gen Odierno’s brief and Chuck Spinney’s Statement take me inside the political process of Washington along with the discussion of the changes over the past decade and in the present network, and then explain how all different parts fit together in the current acquisition process. To understand the way Government works, it is necessary to understand the power games of Washington politics. All these articles and reports dissected and analyzed how political networks influence big power players starting from lobbyists to the highest-ranking government officials and influence the relationship between the Pentagon and the Congress. Some of the key points that were
Continued dependence on the defense industry would
Today, we grapple with both the might of Russia, but also a complicated conflict in the Middle East and consistent threats from North Korea. Clearly, we won’t see a decrease in military spending any time
The United States is the world's biggest shopper of private military and security benefits and has a long history of contracting with the private area. As a result of the broad utilization of private military and security temporary workers inside the U.S. government, control and oversight is diffuse, part among Congress, elected offices, and uncommonly made oversight commissions. Private military and security temporary workers are liable to an unpredictable arrangement of laws and directions, and their exercises are checked on and written about by more than 20 government oversight bodies and boards of trustees. Numerous U.S. directions are new and react to concerns produced by the U.S. government's utilization of private military and security