Every Once In Awhile I Come Across...

...an article or op-ed that I wish I could forward to every single one of my fellow citizens.

This op-ed surely qualifies.

The author is John Lehman, 65th Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan and immediate predecessor to James Webb, who now serves as the senior United States Senator representing the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Secretary Lehman notes:

When John McCain was shot down over Hanoi in 1967, he was flying an A4 Skyhawk. That jet cost $860,000.

Inflation has risen by 700% since then. So Mr. McCain's A4 cost $6.1 million in 2008 dollars. Applying a generous factor of three for technological improvements, the price for a 2008 Navy F18 fighter should be about $18 million. Instead, we are paying about $90 million for each new fighter. As a result, the Navy cannot buy sufficient numbers. This is disarmament without a treaty.

Scary stuff, my friends... scary stuff...

Lehman continues:

The situation is worse in the Air Force. In 1983, I was in the Pentagon meeting that launched the F-22 Raptor. The plan was to buy 648 jets beginning in 1996 for $60 million each (in 1983 dollars). Now they cost $350 million apiece and the Obama budget caps the program at 187 jets. At least they are safe from cyberattack since no one in China knows how to program the '83 vintage IBM software that runs them.

"...'83 vintage IMB software that runs them..."?!?! Can this be true? It sounds impossible, doesn't it? But would Lehman make the claim if it weren't true? Would the Wall Street Journal publish the claim without fact checking and verification? And finally... is this not in line with what we know of government technology practices across a wide range of federal responsibilities, ranging from FBI crime fighting and homeland security responsibilities to FAA Flight Control operations?

There are other problems. Navy shipbuilding fiascoes like the staggering overruns on new surface combatants, the near total failure of the Army's Future Combat System that was meant to re-equip the entire army, the 400% cost overrun of the new Air Force weather satellite - to name but a few - all prove that we are currently unable to design, develop and deliver major weapons systems in anything approaching a cost-effective and timely manner. The Government Accountability Office recently reported that the cost overruns for the top 75% procurement programs were over $295 billion. We are rapidly disarming ourselves, even as defense spending grows.

And let's bear in mind... these fiascoes were the norm when Bush was president and when so-called self-identified "conservatives" ran Congress. If the situation as outlined by Secretary Lehman was the best we could get out of the Bush administration what may we expect during "The Age of Obama?"

Lehman provides an answer to that question:

On May 22, President Obama signed the Weapons System Acquisition Reform Act. Despite the grandiloquent name, it is in fact just an addition of 20,000 more bureaucrats who will only make matters worse.

Lehman notes:

Within the Pentagon, there has been an obliteration of clear lines of authority for managing procurement programs. What there has been is a steady growth in the size and layers of civilian offices, agencies and military staffs, resulting in severe bureaucratic bloat. In the private sector, a specific person is always responsible for the success or failure of a program. When it comes to the Pentagon, no one person is held accountable for good performance or punished for failure.

As a direct result of this lack of accountability, there has been a loss of discipline and control over equipment requirements and a surge in gold-plating in all Pentagon programs. New requirements and design changes - originating in more than 30 different bureaus in the Pentagon - are constantly being added, wreaking havoc with costs.

(Now... just as an aside... with that example in mind just imagine the results of Obama's and the Democratic Congress' "healthcare reforms." God help us. Just take a gander at this chart!)

Lehman isn't shy regarding specifics:

On the Navy's new small warship building program (the LCS), for instance, change-orders have at times averaged 75 per week. Because of these constant changes, cost-plus-contracts have become the norm far into production, instead of fixed-price contracting when development is complete.

The Pentagon has surrendered control of many programs to large contractors. During the 1980s, the Pentagon employed thousands of experienced project managers and engineering professionals. Today most of this talent has gone to work for the contractors, and their duties have been contracted out to those same contractors. It's a classic case of the fox running the chicken coop. To make matters worse, the bureaucracies did not shrink because of this exodus, but actually grew as experienced engineering professionals were replaced by administrators and bookkeepers.

Listen, folks... as tempted as I am to simply repost Lehman's op-ed in it's entirety, I'm not going to do so; I want you to read the full op-ed on your own... make up your own minds.

Lehman doesn't simply point out problems. He offers solutions!

Read Lehman's piece. If Lehman's critiques and suggestions for true reform make sense to you, call your federal representatives. Tell the staffers that answer the phones that at a bear minimum you demand their boss(es) - your Congress Member and your two Senators - READ Lehman's piece and respond to you with their reactions.

The Capital Main Switchboard Number is 202-224-3121.