Professional Soldiers ® - View Single Post - How The Pending Defense Cuts Could Play Out

Richard · 12-04-2011, 12:24

One man's opinion.

Richard

Cuts Can Be Absorbed
Blaine S. Purcell, (former Green Beret Captain), Times Record News, Wichita Falls, TX, 4 Dec 2011

I read with interest the reporting of Trish Choate interviews with Reps. Thornberry and Neugebauer in the TRN Nov. 30. It should be no surprise that they are voicing their concern in the name of national security when you look at their political donation sources for the past decade. More than $350 billion of the DOD budget goes to contractors. These contractors are now calling in their chits. Contractors are only concerned about profits from their "pet rock" projects. So the annual budget for DOD being around $600 billion and the contractors portion being $350 billion of that, then we should not be surprised we hear the cry that the sky is falling.

We have gone from a cold war where these contractors pitched strategic weapon systems, yet many of them are still hanging on in this same mindset.

Now in this counter-insurgency environment, tactical special operations such as that of the John F. Kennedy Center for Special Warfare where I served on staff needs emphasis vs. the outmoded weapon systems of the Cold War era. These forces need their funding protected, but not the profits of the contractors. This 10 percent DOD cut spread out over 10 years will not affect this nation's security negatively, but rather will help the DOD establishment to focus on what really matters.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/...rs_to_ed-12-4/

12-04-2011, 12:24	#4
Richard Quiet Professional Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: NorCal Posts: 15,370	One man's opinion. Richard Cuts Can Be Absorbed Blaine S. Purcell, (former Green Beret Captain), Times Record News, Wichita Falls, TX, 4 Dec 2011 I read with interest the reporting of Trish Choate interviews with Reps. Thornberry and Neugebauer in the TRN Nov. 30. It should be no surprise that they are voicing their concern in the name of national security when you look at their political donation sources for the past decade. More than $350 billion of the DOD budget goes to contractors. These contractors are now calling in their chits. Contractors are only concerned about profits from their "pet rock" projects. So the annual budget for DOD being around $600 billion and the contractors portion being $350 billion of that, then we should not be surprised we hear the cry that the sky is falling. We have gone from a cold war where these contractors pitched strategic weapon systems, yet many of them are still hanging on in this same mindset. Now in this counter-insurgency environment, tactical special operations such as that of the John F. Kennedy Center for Special Warfare where I served on staff needs emphasis vs. the outmoded weapon systems of the Cold War era. These forces need their funding protected, but not the profits of the contractors. This 10 percent DOD cut spread out over 10 years will not affect this nation's security negatively, but rather will help the DOD establishment to focus on what really matters. http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/...rs_to_ed-12-4/ __________________ “Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” - To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus Finch) “Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
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