Defense Procurement Quotes
The Pentagon has the largest budget of any operational government department and makes the most procurements of government agencies. So even if their proportional share of waste were the same as all the other agencies, it would appear, there would be more examples for people to see from the Pentagon. Unfortunately the proportion is very different with a much higher proportion of no bid (sole source contracts). a much higher proporton of moneys spent for which they could not even account. far fewer checks on the procurement officials. The armed services are not all alike howevever. The Army was generally much better than the other services except during the Iraq War reconstruction. The Navy however was by far the worst of the armed services in terms of waste and avoiding the checks and balances of procurement reviews and procedures.
Fogleman came out of retirement at the request of Air Force General Bernard Schriever, Commander of Air Force Systems Command, which was responsible for acquiring all missiles. He oversaw 40 percent of the Air Force budget most of which was spend on procurement contracts with companies. Schreiver wanted an experienced business man to oversee his procurement. In 1964 Foglemen volunteered to start up and train the procurement department for Sargent Shriver, President Johnson’s designee to direct the War on Poverty. 210 Job Corps Centers had to be constructed and corporations hired to operate the largest ones—all within a two year span. Fogleman faced the same problem where the Federal officials responsible for the Job Corp had very little business experience. He was very successful and persuaded Shriver and his key staff to hire a cadre of people with business experience and pay them at the high end of the Federal pay scale. The unit met the President’s deadline and obtained great prices, making exemplary use of taxpayer’s money. Fogleman retired for the third time, and after a few years the Job Corps was transferred to the Labor Department and the typical government procurement staff and norms began to operate. Forlleman and General Schreiber were unable to institutionalize Fogleman’s methods and after the General retired, the command that had been so effective for a few years, reverted to standard DOD procurement. See {634893} for a quotation of one of Fogleman’s trainees on military procurement.
The Congress wants to keep control of exactly what the Pentagon buys so that each member can try to get more than his fair share of the Federal dollar. But the Congressional budget process is usually slow, and with the recent Congresses they can hardly get anything done. The President nor the Secretary of Defense cannot stop or slow down procurements that are not needed or can be deferred and spend the already appropriated funds on emergency needs for the troops fighting in the field.
Root was serving as Secretary of War at the time. The army of the United States was in sad shape. Congress did not want to appropriate much money for the military as there was no one to fight any longer. Indians had been subdued, relations with Canada were excellent. Mexico was too weak to be a threat, and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans protected against invasion by large forces. The navy was in much better shape and could protect against invasion from abroad anyway. The Republicans then were in control of government and were generally very isolationist. And there was the traditional American animus to a standing Army. See {601390} and {592824} for examples of that attitude. The army itself was a set of individual fiefdoms with nepotism and cronyism rampant with no general staff to have the big picture. Theodore Roosevelt and Root, unlike most other Republicans, wanted to reform and build up the army as well as strengthen the navy,
