Doing What Matters With Less
08.27.2010 at 02:42pm
Doing What Matters With Less – Major Peter J. Munson, Marine Corps Gazette.
“America is not at war. Marines are at war while America is at the mall.” This is the solemn refrain of Marines who have been in the thick of the fight for nearly 9 years. As an institution, however, the Marine Corps has no stones to cast. Despite this longest period of continuous warfare fought by an all-volunteer force, the Marine Corps as an institution stubbornly remains a peacetime garrison bureaucracy…
Much more at the Marine Corps Gazette.
Ah yes bureaucracy, and now power-point! It can have even more direct and dire consequences than just frustration over wasted man-hours preparing for troop and stomp.
I recall being told that the Corps’ Combat Development Command, which decides what gear to buy, treated field commanders requests in 2005 for the MRAP as an expensive obstacle to existing long range plans for equipment procurement.
Consequently, staff (it’s always staff) didn’t give Gen Conway the whole picture including the gravity of his commanders MRAP requests and the real reasons it was shelved. Which probably led to the CMC giving what appeared to be a smoke and mirrors presentation to Congress about why buying MRAPs was not a priority.
Trigger pullers died and paper pushers were promoted – a very gutsy article by the good Major.
“America is not at war. Marines are at war while America is at the mall.”
Kokoda Front Line – WWII news reel footage shows the refrain is not new.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WZURx5w0Ps&feature=related
He could be talking about the US Army as well.