Our friend Nick Schwellenbach over at the Project on Government Oversight sent DT an interesting set of documents that deals with the Marines difficulty obtaining gear under urgent needs requests.
Nick writes:
Despite over 130 urgent need requests (known as Joint Urgent Operational Needs (JUONs) or Urgent Universal Needs Statements (UUNSs)) from 1 MEF while it was deployed in Iraq, less than 10 percent were fulfilled and many were “cancelled, delayed” or led to solutions which were not asked for.
Before November 2006, the document says that the requests “frequently languished” at Multi-National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I) level until Central Command Chief of Staff (CoS CENTCOM) “intervened,” restoring urgency to the process.
But more intriguing is the section on page eight under the heading MNF-W needs competed against funded programs.
What this shows is the tension between procurement programs that are already underway for the next generation of equipment and the commercial-off-the-shelf products that answer the needs of troops in the field now.
Case in point is the MRAP debate. USA Today reported yesterday that commanders realize that despite the robust construction of the massive transport, EFPs can still penetrate their thick shells. The dialectic of measure-countermeasure continues.
The services have been redirected to spend $20 billion on MRAPs even though the ONR initiative stated in the presentation is ongoing (thats the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program the next generation Humvee).
The list continues with current UAVs vs. future ones, counter mortar systems in development and autonomous logistics vehicles that could be delivered now versus those that are in experimentation.
One has to wonder whether throwing money at a war thats losing political support is prudent. Officials claim the MRAPs wont be fully deployed until 2009. Does anyone believe the need for them will be as great after the next president is inaugurated as they are now?
And what of the other programs? When Congress demands a peace dividend for getting out of Iraq, will it be so willing to devote billions to next-generation UAVs and Humvees when MRAPs and ScanEagles are sitting in motor pools and airfield hangers?
Well, of course, follow closely as all this shakes out. But it seems as if the real procurement battles have already begun.
(Thanks again to Nick for the gouge…)
(Photo: Navstar MPV, courtesy DID)
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
“Does anyone believe the need for them will be as great after the next president is inaugurated as they are now?”
of course they will, the next urban counterinsurgency war isn’t going to feature enemies starting from scratch. EFPs and IEDs in general aren’t going anywhere, nor are the methods used to deploy them. they are proven weapons with proven tactics.
when we end up having to invade iran and venezuela because otherwise we’d be on the brink of a nuclear war for oil, we’ll be in the same shit, different day.
“Unconscionable” was the first word that came to mind when I read this article… Then I read C’s post, “same shit, different day.” Man, that little phrase describes sooo many things, in sooo many ways. :)
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Cheers!
But that is not a problem, China has supersonic cruise missles and anti-sat weapons. Need to be ready for a high tech nation-state war in the year 2100. In the mean time, soldiers die everyday from a few buried artillery shells.
What are the requirements again? An armored truck with a V hull, that can defeat 500 pound IED’s, 2000 pound VBIED’s, EFP/EFJ, tandem warhead RPG’s, and the usual heavy machine guns. Oh yeah, and it needs to weigh 15 tons, not 200 tons. Seems doable, if someone can manufacture a 100 thousand of them tomarrow, we can get the upper hand on this problem.
We can do much better with the MRAP, but I think 100 thousand Predator B’s over Iraq 24/7 would be more effective than this neverending arms race we found ourselves in on the ground.
Defense Procurement is like a bear. In peace time, its metabolism slows down and new generations of systems come painfully slow, and it received very little input from its environment. In war, there should be a much faster metabolism and receives far more input to respond to allowing generation after generation of experiments to be tested and improved upon.
Does anyone now fault the Department of War procurement gurus of World War II because they ripped through new designs for planes and ships over and over again in a war about the same length as our current struggle, on the grounds that is disrupted the orderly progress that was being made in 1938?
It also misapprehends the logic of procurement. If you have an MRAP sitting in your garrisons rusting away, procurement gurus will insist that a requirement be developed to replace it. But, if you have only Humvees sitting in your garrisons, no one will be bold enough to say that you need something that fills a mission quite different from that of your legacy Humvee.
I hate to toss this in everyones faces but a bad secretary of defense can have a devastating impact on all areas of the department…most notably procurement. Rummy was a big fan of “leap ahead” technologies and transformational forces. Because of this desire on his part and the president’s, a focused, product evolutionary cycle has been cast aside for the mythical “Wonder weapon” that may not provide the benefits needed. To think that weapons projected into the future would take priority over items needed now is the pure folly. Good Riddance to Rummy and by the looks of things the entire Procurement Branch needs an enema!
Just remembered some facts from worldwar II on the German side: Germany did not develop their weapons after the start of the war, continued war with what they already had. They saw no need for it until very late in the war, by then it was too late. The Allies had better guns, tanks(russian side only), and planes by then.
Procure, good; Develop, better; Choose either one—your f&@*!d.
That is historical nonsense.
The German arms development continued all the time through 1945.
Examples:
Small arms; MG42 introduced, StG44 introduced, K43 introduced
AT: 5cm Pak and 7.5 Pak and 8.8cm Pak introduced, Panzerfaust 6 Panzerschreck introduced
Tanks: Pz III and IV got more powerful versions, Panther/Tiger/TigerII/JPz IV/most StUGIII/Hetzer/Elefant/Nashorn/Hummel/Wespe … many new tanks introduced
Artillery had new designs as well, but except 12.8cm gun little improvements and experienced few really new weapons in WW2.
The only thing that remotley comes close to what you stated was that Hitler ordered a kind of stop to weapon projects not about to mature quickly soetime in 1940 or 1941 – that was cancelled by about 1942 or 1943 and largely ignored anyway.
Our company has developed a new implant device to improve the present procedure currently being used for below the knee amputees. Due the Government’s “RED TAPE”, we have unable to present our device. We have submitted Forms 2891 and Form 2892 as requested and still are being held up by Government “RED TAPE”.our soldiers are suffering because of this. “What’s Up America”?????
Sven is correct. In fact, when it come to airframes the problem was TOO MANY programs going on, which left the Luftwaffe with the same 109′s because great ideas like the ME262 and the FW Ta152 (upgraded FW190) wer competing with a myriad of other less promising prototypes and the scary but irrelevant V weapons.
William, did you have the proper cover sheet on your TPS Report?
Congress better not ask for a “peace dividend.” The end of supplemental funding for Iraq will not solve the problem of aging equipment the military. But the Democrats have never, NEVER, complained about shortfalls in anything besides armor.
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Any help that I can get would be greatful. Thank you ALL for your service to Our Country.
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