Army warehouses are stacked with $3.6 billion worth of spare parts that the military does not need, according to a new government report. The supply of some parts stashed away by the Army exceeded the foreseeable demand for decades to come, an investigation by the Government Accountability Office discovered. There was "no projected demand" for a "substantial" amount of the inventory. The report said the Army probably will never use about $900 million of the equipment it had in storage in 2007.
How much of this surplus is the result of ordering more than the Army needs, and how much is the result of suppliers forcing the Army to order a certain amount before they will deliver the needed supplies? The GAO needs to look into some of the pork spending that has been approved by congress that feeds this kind of wasteful purchasing. The pet projects that some senators approve that just provide money to their state for a product that the military doesn't need. How much surplus should the Army have on hand?
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<sarcasm>The United States government would never waste the taxpayers money.</sarcasm> The sad part is that this will probably get worse in the next couple of years rather than getting better. We have persons with zero military experience making decision for the military and then wondering why there are so many problems. In case you haven't guessed I am talking about the congress.
The sad part is that we are paying now for equipment we won't even be able to use for another 6 to 8 years. I am seeing it now on the project I am working for the Army. "We wan't to add some additional features to this model, so we can use them in five years when we put this other piece of equipment into service..." What it really has become is contracted companies guaranteeing that they will have contractability the next time around and that they have the guaranteed cost of maintenance going into their pockets as well. I think it's about time I started looking for a job at one of those places... I sure would make a hell of a lot more money.
