What is the Biggest Problem with the Department of Defense (DOD)?

What is the Biggest Problem with the Department of Defense DOD is a question that people have pondered for decades. If you step back and take a close look, the answer will smack you in the face. Before we get started, I retired from the military after 27 years of service and worked as a civilian employee for the DOD until I retired, so what I say is from first-hand knowledge.

I have seen, questioned, and been shocked at the answers and policies, as well as the nepotism. I watched as we tested a vehicle to protect our troops and the contract get awarded to the company because of political affiliations instead of merit which ended us with many US military deaths; but that senator was reelected. The Military should be the ONLY one picking the equipment they need, not some bureaucrat interested only in reelection. If you really want to fix this problem, the Defense budget should be set on a percentage of our GDP. Under Democrats, it is usually 17%, Republicans 23%, so let us make it permanently 20%, which would also help us with all the Pork Spending from both sides. If this is not possible, the Defense Budget Bill should be voted on by itself, with no other bills attached. Then add, if the DOD saves money, it will not lose money the next year.

One of the Biggest Problem is the amount of non-Military background people who are in charge of important parts of the Military. When you talk about DOD personnel, they are three groups, Military personnel (self-explained) DOD permanent civilian employees (full time permanent hires), DOD temp/term employees (temp usually a DOD perm in a short term job, Term not a perm and can be let lose at any time), and DOD contract personnel (personnel or company contracted to fulfill a military contract.) Of the DOD permanent employees, too many bosses who have never been in the Military are in charge and have not a clue. As hard as I looked, I could not find the ratio of prior service people who are now DOD civilians, where I was, it is probably 25%, which is one area of the problem. They do know the Military and do not have the integrity, for the most part, drilled into the heads of the Military.

How can the DOD hire people to define the battlefield, the type of equipment needed on the battlefield, and how to achieve the battlefield objective if they have never been in a battlefield situation, do not understand the military thought pattern, and has never employed personnel, equipment, or tactics to fight a battle? They have had no skin in the fight! You cannot, the only thing that ends up happening is the Military personnel end up dead. This is one of the biggest problems in our Department of Defense. You can have academics coming up with possible theories at a collage, it is all right, it is theological, but when these academics making decisions about battlefield procedures who have ZERO experience, we the Military people pay the price with our lives. This is compounded by these same academics not listening to the Military leaders who have devoted their whole life to develop these tactics for effectiveness and least risk, the number of the dead Military tells the story.

There were no politician, during the writing of the US Constitution, who would interfere with Military operations. The politicians would just tell the generals their mission and get out of the way. This ended with LBJ; and the Liberal Democrats used the Rules of Engagement (ROE), which are the rules the Military must follow set forth by the president. In Vietnam, the ROE were used as a social justice tool during the Vietnam War causing mass Military casualties. Even after their arrogance had caused thousands of US Military deaths, these politicians did not stop; they just doubled down with their interference in Military missions racking up 58,318 American Casualties. These bureaucrats directed what the military could, and could not bomb, even though the off limit targets were the best legitimate targets to end the Vietnam War. Vietnam was the first time ROE were used to cripple the Military’s ability to fight, using FOBs (forward operating bases) instead of lines, and restraining the Military’s ability to wage war, but it would not be the last.

The first Gulf War went off like a snap; we defeated the third strongest Military in the world in 100 hours with minimal casualties due to the Military not being compromised by the ROE. Unfortunately, the second Gulf War we forgot, we went back to FOBs instead of lines, but the Military was only restrained by their 8 years of gutting from the previous administration. There were WMDs, many of us seen them but were ordered to stay quit because they were traced back to Kofi Annan’s son, Kofi Annan was the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Politics interfered with the truth again. The ROE did protected the Military, which was until President Obama, who in known to loath the Military, won the election. From 2001 to end of 2007, there were 1,049 US Military killed in Afghanistan, which averages to 131 troops killed under President Bush per year. From 2009 to the end, 2016 there were 3,776 US Military killed in Afghanistan, which averages to 347 troops killed under President Obama per year. This is a 265% increase, this, like the Vietnam War, was directly caused by President Obama’s ROE compounded by the MASSIVE cuts done to the Military by the Obama administration, and the administration forcing the Military to buy inferior equipment. President Obama would not listen to any of the Military leaders because he, as most Liberals, is a narcissistic academic who has never been in the Military and thought he knew more than the generals with hundreds of years combined knowledge. This ended up with over 1,727 of my sisters and brothers in arms, not coming home to their families. If you through the icing on the cake, President has averaged a little over 1 a month, but his ROE told the Military, do what you have to. These are not Democrats or Republicans; these are not conservatives or Liberals. These Americans died because of the arrogance of Liberal civilian placed over the Military who have had no skin in the fight.

Another major problem is that we have too many civilian employees in the DOD who have never had skin in the game. They do not have the mindset, discipline, or integrity most Military display daily. I watched a Military retiree, who was a supervisor, get busted and suspended (rightfully so) for trying to hire someone illegally by the Director and Executive Director. Then I watched the Director and Executive Director, neither have served in the Military, who busted him, illegally hire the most unqualified person, over many highly qualified people, into the leaving directors spot who was retiring. Before you ask, no I was not running for this position. This person with ZERO experience at that level or even the next level down, who also had ZERO Military experience was picked for that exact reason. The way they promoted this person directly violated the regulations and US Labor Laws. This hypocrisy and illegalities I watch daily, among the non-mil civilians working in the DOD and it is mind blowing. If you bring it up or challenge it, they will retaliate against and black list you. You cannot stop these wrongs because they are the ones in charge. This needs to be fixed, I’m not saying every person needs to be Prior Military but the ones making the major decisions should have at least had skin in the game. I wonder how many of these civilians, if vetted properly today, would have illegal payments from DOD contractors in their pockets. I wonder the same about our politicians, both Democrat and Republican.

Another major problem we have is with the way the military is required to go through certain civilian companies with ZERO ability to do a price challenge. For example, we had a 1-cylinder diesel engine on a piece of equipment, which broke. None was in the supply system so we went local purchase, which is legal but equipment must be identical to the Military required item. Through the supply system, this engine was $1,800 yet I purchased it for just under $600. I put in a price challenge, it was denied because it went through a disability company. When I followed the tracking of the money and equipment, the equipment came directly from where I bought it, only the paperwork went through the disability company. We were paying them $1,200 to process paperwork that took 10 minutes, and on average, the military bought roughly 5,000 of these engines a year. DOD was overpaying this company by $6 million dollars a year; I wonder which politician was involved here. Remember, this is just one company and we deal though out the Military with hundreds of thousands of companies.

There was a project we were working, one part classified, one part sensitive, and we were going to pay the contractor $1.6 million. I told the person in charge, I could do it and save some money, he gave me 2/3rds of the project, paying the contractor $600,000 for the other 1/3rd. It took me by myself, two months to complete the 2/3rds of the project, saving $1 million dollars. My pay for those two moths was just a spec of the million. Ask yourself a question, “Why was the contractor charging so much?” I have done this many times which the contractors hate, but the same contractors keep offering me job.

Here is another. The Normal military jet fuel is JP-8; it costs $3.73 a gallon. The Obama administration mandated the Military use BIO fuel; it costs over $16 a gallon and damages fighter jet engines, so on top of the 429% fuel cost raise you have the cost to fix the jets. You ask why the DOD budget is so high; it is because of bad stewardship and decisions from civilians that compromised our National Security. This is singly the most costly problem we have at the DOD. Many of the DOD contract companies rip off the DOD (and all branches of government) at every chance and we are mandated, in many cases, to bend over and take it. We need to have a mandatory price challenge for anything the government buys, if it has the same Form, Fit, and Function and is cheaper, you must buy it. We also need to only by parts from the US, or our allies. We had bought cameras from china and found out they were transmitting information back to China, does that sound like a threat?  

I can go on for days and deeper in these areas but I would need to write a book. Please let me know what you thing.

The Hatred Runs Deep in This One…

I am a firm believer that actions speak louder than words, if you truly want to know what a Group, Political Party, or a Politician believes in; look at their actions. If you have a church that says it follows God but spews nothing but hate, you can call shenanigans, just like when you have a Catholics or Protestants politician saying they follow the Bible, but supports abortion, violence against others, or people who break the law, you can call shenanigans. However, this is about the hatred we now see across this country and it is disturbing. Growing up, I would see some racism, but my dad taught me to believe in what Martin Luther King always said, judge a person by their character, not the color of their skin. Even though we had very little growing up, my dad helped anyone who needed it, even opening up our house for people of all races and religions because as he always said, it is the right thing to do; remember to always be a good neighbor to good people.

Today, thanks to our race baiters, Liberal and establishment politicians, you have more festering hatred then I have ever seen. The hatred from group to group today, no matter if it is political or racial, will not even allow you to compliment the other side when they do something good for America. The economy is at its best in 60 years and minority unemployment at its lowest point ever, but neither the Democratic nor the Republican establishments will give credit where credit is due. To top it off, you have people out there claiming rights that do not exist anywhere but in their little mind, with other people trying to remove the rights out lined in the US Constitution that has made America great. First, let us see the rights, or perceived rights, that causes the most hatred.

These are rights you do not have but think you do:

I have the right to free government money.

I have the right for retribution payments.

I have the right to steal other people’s property.

I have the right to “physically attack” people because I do not like what they say.

I have the right to vote because I am living in the country.

The government owes me money to live on.

The government owes me food stamps.

The government owes me a cell phone.

The government owes me a livable minimum wage.

You do have these rights.

I have the right of free speech.

I have the right of equal pay for equal work.

I have the right not to be free from discriminated against based on race, gender, age, religion, sexual preference, or political affiliation.  

I have the right to a good education.

I have the right to hold and bear arms to protect yourself, your family, and your country.

I have the right of security from illegal search and seizure.

I have the he right as an American to vote and have the voting system free from voter fraud.

I have the right of freedom from taxation without representation.

Think about this for a minute, when I went to school most everyone had a gun in our truck, to go hunting after school and we did not have a school shooting. It is not the gun that is the problem but the indoctrination of the Liberal ideology being taught in our schools. We have taken the morale standard out of schools. This standard taught us to respect others and their opinions even when we do not agree with their views. This standard taught us to love and respect our country and those who died to protect it. This same standard taught us to have tolerance and respect. This same standard taught us violence and bullying was wrong but today in school it runs rapid. The ironic part is, it is the teachers and administrators who are the bullies and assaulting people’s First Amendment rights because it does not go along with their agenda and the kids are baring the blunt of it. It has festered into people bringing, guns to places and shooting a bunch of people as their release. Liberals took the moral compass out of this country’s schools, because they could not indoctrinate our children with it there, and we are seeing the result of their actions. The Liberal ideology, which holds down lower class and minorities, has manifested into the anger we see displayed today. What is ironic, the people who are being held down, the lower class and minorities are the same people who keep voting these same Liberals back into office and expecting a change.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” Albert Einstein

Liberals purposely suppressed the lower class and minorities using Social Security, Welfare, Food Stamps, and Section 8 Housing. The Liberal thinking is, “If we hold them down using Social Security, Welfare, Food Stamps, and Section 8 Housing; if they never seek to advance because they are content with the money we give them, we can control them.” Unfortunately, so far they have been right. Today people think they should not have to do the work to receive a “Living Wage.” I hate to tell you, McDonalds is a stepping-stone on a path to a better life, if you never get off the first step, it is your fault, not mine nor my ancestors. This has help build a network of hate with several hate groups.

You have groups out there that are pure hate groups. Some are by race, religion, or even political party, but others are just pure hate. Antifa is a strait up pure hate groups, who carry out attacks on non-violent groups because they do not like what they say. They hate America and the Constitution because they hate free speech and freedom of religion, a duet of our major founding cornerstones. The “Patriot Prayer” group, a peaceful First Amendment advocacy group, organized a rally in Portland Oregon. It was a peaceful march until Antifa, a Liberal far left group, showed up with their faces covered and started hurling bottles and fireworks at police while stating “F*ck the Police.” The Antifa thugs did not just hurl bottles, fireworks, the police caught them with knives, and other weapons meant to seriously hurt or kill people. Do you agree that this group is full of hate? They cover their faces because they are cowards.

Other groups use religion as a weapon for hate like The Black Nationalist, with their religious leader Louis Farrakhan. Below is list of his quotes.

“You are not now, nor have you ever been a citizen of America. You are a slave to white America.”

“My god will wipe this country (America) from the face of the earth.”

“White people are potential humans – they haven’t evolved yet.”

“The Mother Wheel is a heavily armed spaceship the size of a city, which will rain destruction upon white America but save those who embrace the Nation of Islam.”

You have religious hate groups like Westboro Baptist Church who I think hates everybody. I would normally give you some of their quotes but I will not repeat the anti-Christian theology this group portrays. They hate everyone from the LGBT community, to our Military, to our real Christian Churches, to America itself. They have not committed physical violent acts against anyone, but there verbal and emotional violence is beyond any I have ever seen.

Racism has always spawn hate and remember what I said earlier, “if you truly want to know what a Group, Political Party, or a Politician believes in; look at their actions.”

The KKK began in 1866, formed by the Democratic Party, extending into almost every southern state by 1870. It was the white southern resistance used against not only blacks, but also the Republican Party’s Reconstruction-era policies, which aimed at establishing political and economic equality for blacks. The Ku Klux Klan dedicated itself to an underground campaign of violence against Republican leaders and voters (both black and white) by the National Democratic Party to prevent equality for minorities in the south. In recent years, the Democratic Party even had Exalted Cyclops of the KKK, Sen. Robert Byrd so I do not believe they have changed much. Their hatred and violence including killing of minorities and Republican politicians is well documented.

The Aryan Nations is an anti-Semitic, white supremacist group based in Hayden, Idaho and founded by Richard Girnt Butler. They hate pretty much everybody but themselves. The FBI, who states the Aryan Nations have the “first truly nationwide terrorist network” in the United States, lists the Aryan Nations as a “terrorist threat”. They are very violent and attack whenever the chance arises. With the amount of violence they portray, I do not know why it is not covered more in the news.

La Raza is an anti-American Spanish racist group, who has started harassing and bullying any person who does not believe in open borders. LaRaza has declared California as part of Mexico and back violence to achieve their goal. We have elected officials who want to usurp the American government for the benefit of illegal aliens. These officials have been seen, spreading a message of overthrowing the government at ATLAN and LaRaza rallies within the US. Isn't plotting against the United States called treason? They, like the Aryan Nation have committed acts of violence but never seems to be covered by the media; I guess it is not Politically Correct to do so.

On another side, you have the New Black Panthers (NBP), who are racist, and pushing for violence. The New Black Panthers were caught on video threatening people at the voting booths; I wonder why those charges against the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation went away! Because all racist, regardless of race, have politicians? Here are a couple of quotes from NBP leaders, see if you agree with me that they are races.

“There are no good crackers, and if you find one, kill him before he changes.”

Khalid Abdul Muhammad

“Were at war, its (sic) silly and immoral to call for peace when war has been declared.”

“Bomb White Churches and Kill White Babies”

“I won’t be completely happy until I see our people free and Whitey dead.”

King Samir Shabazz

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a group which may have started out for a good purpose, but ones it started turning violent, it lost all credibility. BLM, which is a Racist Group by definition, had a rally in Dallas Texas to protest which I would support, until the violence starts. A member of BLM, Xavier Johnson, open up fire on the Dallas Police killing 5, wounding 11 including 2 civilians. Johnson, who was reportedly angry over police shootings of black men and stated that he wanted to kill white people, especially white police officers. BLM defended Michael Brown, who was a thug, seen on video betting an elderly man, and was waiting for two court dates. The court dates where for strong-arm robbery, the same crime he was committing, caught on video just before he died. All the evidence puts him attacking the cop (his DNA in the cop’s car), running at the cop like a football linebacker, the autopsy shows his hands were not up (both confirmed even by his families pathologist), and had attacked the cop earlier. BLM then proceeded to burn down Ferguson, a heavily minority business area, and shoot at cops in the area. So did this help your cause? No, when you turned to violence and racism, you lose all credibility. This is why Martin Luther King was so effective, he refused to let anyone turn violent and they had to dress respectfully to march with him. If you are against police brutality, this was not the case to pick, Eric Garner, murdered by the cops on video tape, and should have been your pick. Here are some of BLM quotes. Are they racist?

“Whiteness is not Humanness, in fact, whites are sub-human”

“White people are genetically deficient”

BLM Founder Yusra K. Ali-

“Black Lives Matter? You bet. Other lives? Screw you.”

BLM Lead Founder Alicia Garza

Here are a couple of signs they carry.

"Assata" is a reference to Assata Shakur, also known as Joanne Chesimard, who was sentenced to life for murdering a cop but escaped prison and is currently in Cuba. Do you really think this will help anyone? It won't!

The only way we are going to stop the hatred is to first, stop giving these Hating Liberals your permission to divide Americans. I fought in the military for 27 years, not for one group, but for all Americans. If you believe you have worth, which I believe there is worth in everyone, then expound on that and never let anyone, even those closes to you, put you down and believe you are not as good as anyone else. I have been knocked down hundreds of times, the only difference in me and one you may call a looser is I keep getting back up. It is up to you to do the same no matter your race, religion, or economic standing.

“No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt

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