Whoa Nellie!
So I guess you have to be an old guy like me to remember Keith Jackson, long-time ABC Sportscaster, shouting “Whoa Nellie” but that’s what came to mind as I read the latest on the US Marine Corps audit saga. Apparently GAO has forced the DoD Inspector General to retract the Marine Corp’s clean audit opinion because of problems in the suspense accounts. Here’s a link to an article in Defense News with the details. I have opined on DoD audits on several occasions….first shouting with joy at the accomplishment, then wondering if it really mattered and...
Read MoreCRS Publishes Summary of the FY2015 NDAA
This link is a good a summary as I have seen for the FY15 NDAA. Here’s the summary page: Read the CRS Summary here: GDE Error: Error retrieving file - if necessary turn off error checking (400:Bad Request)
Read More“Where you stand depends on where you sit”, Miles Law and related maxims
I attended an evening affair recently with a well respected leader who reminded me that the old maximum “Where you stand, depends on where you sit” was actually memorialized by Rufus Miles of Princeton University back in the 70’s. Anyone who has ever been in a bureaucracy knows exactly what he means. I myself am a slave to Miles Law. And not only when I was lurking around the bureaucracy of the Pentagon, but even afterwards in my second career. It’s not a bad thing, by the way. In fact, if you are to be a loyal member of any organization, you will be dealing with...
Read MoreCompetition and Sewing Machines
I saw an interesting article this morning on the NDIA Blog site which said Secretary Frank Kendall, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics USD(AT&L), was unhappy that DoD did not meet the goal for having more competition for defense-related contracts. I’m not surprised at that because given the irrational focus of DoD on vendor profits, they have managed to make bidding on defense contracts so unattractive that fewer and fewer companies are making the effort to bid. In my view, it’s not just one reason: There are less contractors out...
Read MoreNeglected Nightmares and Forgotten Dreams
I know. I know. You are asking what can this article possibly be about? Well, it’s all about the DoD budget (the Dream) and sequestration (the Nightmare). I’ve been talking to a few budget folks over the past week and asking how is this year compared to others in terms of pain. The universal answer has been “Not so bad this year.” But soon all our dreams of finally getting some sanity in the budget process will give way to the nightmarish and forgotten process known as Sequestration. It’s been quite a journey to get to where the DoD budget is today....
Read MoreBrackish Water
There’s lots of hot air blowing about on the subject of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) inside the Beltway. I thought I put a few points out there as food for thought. First of all, a quick explanation of the BRAC process is in order (Here’s a link to the 2005 BRAC web page). BRAC is the process by which the Defense Department determines what US bases and facilities are no longer needed or facilities which should be repurposed, obtains Congressional approval to close those bases and goes about closing the bases The determination process is done secretly within each Service...
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