Gates: Cuts in Pentagon Bureaucracy Needed - Greg Jaffe, Washington Post.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates vowed Saturday to lead an effort to cut as much as $15 billion in overhead costs from the Pentagon's $550 billion budget and warned that without the savings, the military will not be able to afford its current force.
Under Gates's plan, the billions taken from the Pentagon's vast administrative bureaucracy would be used to pay for weapons modernization programs and the overall fighting force in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gates also hinted that additional cuts to major weapons programs would probably be necessary in the coming years.
The Pentagon's budget has almost doubled over the past decade, but the faltering national economy and surging U.S. debt will impose new austerity on the military, Gates warned...
More at The Washington Post.
Comments
The budget will indeed shrink. Scarcity will again be a factor. Unfortunately it will be only of minor inconvenience to the bureaucrats and contactors mentioned. The burden and costs will again be added to the load of our junior officers and NCOs. It seems only yesterday (mid-90s)that we couldnt afford spare parts or training ammunition in the 82nd ABN DIV.
I wonder if he's taking up this seemingly impossible task in anticipation of retiring within the near future. This seems like one of those missions impossible that could quickly create a lot of powerful enemies for Gates.
Well, I guess if any SECDEF in recent history has had a chance of pulling this off, it's Gates. Good luck.