Was Military Reform Ever Possible?

http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,168924,00.html

quote:

It may be that the Military Reform Movement remains nothing but a historical footnote, one of many vain attempts to rescue a decaying empire from its appointment with history's dustbin.

Was Military Reform Ever Possible

This guy is one positively negative guy. I have a feeling that people were just as disgruntled about our future as a nation when the war of 1812 was in full swing, and again while the Civil War was tearing the republic apart, literally. Yet this guy seems to be saying our "empire" is now on a downward spiral.

From what, and to what?

ALL we are supposed to be is a nation of free peoples. NOT an empirical-monster with it's military tentacles stretched around the globe, and it's young people dying in foreign wars.

Just ask George Washington.

The future looks bright for the USA, after January-09 especially.

Follow The Money!

The core of the problem lies in the capital structure of the Defense Industry. Legally, these are for the most part a few dozen privately-owned but publicly-traded companies. The very idea that the "Masters or War" are owned by private individuals, rather than by the People of the United States through their government, should be challenged. The United States should nationalize its defense industry and should ban all privately-owned entities from manufacturing and distributing weapons, ammunition, or weapons platforms which require more than one person to operate or to carry.

Removing the requirement to show an attractive dividend yield and return on investment to shareholders, would reduce procurement costs by about 20% (This is the approximate pre-tax operating margin of the typical defense contractor).

The career military personnel, who would transfer from uniforms to civilian clothes, would not be enticed nor their opinions distorted, by the promise of lavish financial rewards, once they cross over to the other side.

Without the enormous capital reserves, which have been used by defense companies to "buy" votes and to influence Congressmen and Senators, there will be much less incentive for our legislators to camapaign for the placement of defense-related production facilities within their districts.

There will be no lack of incentive nor ingenuity when it comes to defense evelopment or procurement. The Communist Chinese and Russians have continued to build and develop excellent weapons systems in great quantities. And they didn't need "profit" to motivate them!

The greatest "waste" of government resources, in my opinion, has been the financial incentives used to recruit and to retain personnel to fight an interminable war. Include in this the detestable practice of hiring "private contractors" to augment or replace our uniformed military. If the United States Government had to fight "citizen" wars, rather than "professional/mercenary" wars, not only would our military efforts be more focused on "finishing the fight", our whole military development and procurement effort would become more focused on optimizing the operational lives and capabilities of our servicemen and less on those of the "systems" of which they are a part.

quote:

Originally posted by Weatherguesser:
Was Military Reform Ever Possible?

http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,168924,00.html

quote:

It may be that the Military Reform Movement remains nothing but a historical footnote, one of many vain attempts to rescue a decaying empire from its appointment with history's dustbin.

Was Military Reform Ever Possible

This guy is one positively negative guy. I have a feeling that people were just as disgruntled about our future as a nation when the war of 1812 was in full swing, and again while the Civil War was tearing the republic apart, literally. Yet this guy seems to be saying our "empire" is now on a downward spiral.

From what, and to what?

ALL we are supposed to be is a nation of free peoples. NOT an empirical-monster with it's military tentacles stretched around the globe, and it's young people dying in foreign wars.

Just ask George Washington.

The future looks bright for the USA, after January-09 especially.

He's a right wing Conservative, who looks at the State of Conservatism in America and feels like heaving...

He can't stand the left, and will refuse to ally with them, even on issues that he agree's with 100 percent.

But in the limited sense of being a military critic he's usually (although not always) right.

This article reflects both of the above. And as a result is pessimistic.

Dave