Says real reform starts with at least three principles:
1. No failed system can be fixed if it cannot be accurately measured. A crash program to make Pentagon spending accountable is essential. But just that is also insufficient. DOD must also have an ability to predict with reasonable accuracy the cost, performance, and schedule of its future programs and policies. The current bias, based on advocacy, is the heart and core of business as usual.
2. The basis for competence cannot just be intelligence and hard work; it must also be objectivity and independence, ruthlessly enforced. We currently have a fundamentally corrupt incentive system for senior Pentagon decision-makers. The iron-clad control of the Pentagon decision process by people (in and out of uniform) who are free to then collect salaries and other emoluments from defense contractors (or other organizations, frequently lobbying firms and think tanks, funded by them) must end - without compromise. The similar sham of members of Congress and - especially - their staff pretending to perform oversight on Capitol Hill and then accepting jobs from those they "oversee" (including the Pentagon) must also end.
3. If ever the above two principles are observed, President Obama can very usefully review all existing hardware programs. We need a process where well informed, independently minded Pentagon managers can actually identify the unaffordable, the irrelevant, and the impractical hardware programs combined with an atmosphere where people appreciate that the money party in Washington is over.
Tags: Pentagon Reform
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