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Ducimus · 03-02-11, 05:46 PM

Heh, I can think of a few ways the USAF can cut costs.

Put the fighter mafia out of power. Those high tech jets they want so much? F22, JSF, etc etc, wahtever whatever.......Do we *REALLY* need those when F16's, F15's, etc seem to be doing the job admirably?

Stop spending so much damn money on base beautification. As an AF Civil Engineer, ive spent time on Air bases, Army camps, and a NCTC. Air bases look MUCH nicer, and it is unneccessary.

For example, ive helped to installed fencing on one Airbase, that looks kinda like this:

This type of fencing is NOT cheap, and we put it up all over the place. A chain link fence with a stretch of canvas would have accomplished the same thing, for 1/4 to 1/2 the cost. But nooooooo. The General wanted a pretty base more then functional equipment. (I hate Toy Bases)

The "Spend all the money or we won't get as much next year" system needs to be redone. For those that don't know. Government agencies are alloted a fiscal budget. They get so much money a year. If they do not spend it, they don't get as much next year. From a big picture standpoint this makes sense. Why give an area more money that what they use and drive costs up? The trouble is at a local level these agencies are fearful of not having enough money to get their job done next fiscal year. So they make sure they spend ALL they money they get ever year, however they can.

The end result? At the end of the fiscal year, you have 1 and 2 stripe airman being "issued" 50+ dollar tools, that they do not sign a hand receipt for. Which means, they don't have to give them back. If you never signed for it, its yours to keep. So Dear taxpayer, Thank your my Leatherman, my Super leatherman, Gerber multifunction tool, and Makita cordless drill. All free, on your dime.

I kid you not, at one base i saw a guy going through the CE compound literally tossing these things out of a crate at anyone who wanted one. Naturally, we ALL did, who'd pass that up? (They were THAT desperate to spend the rest of the budget) Of course this was 14 years ago. Maybe times have changed. (I doubt it).

03-02-11, 05:46 PM	#12
Ducimus Rear Admiral Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,987 Downloads: 67 Uploads: 2	Heh, I can think of a few ways the USAF can cut costs. Put the fighter mafia out of power. Those high tech jets they want so much? F22, JSF, etc etc, wahtever whatever.......Do we REALLY need those when F16's, F15's, etc seem to be doing the job admirably? Stop spending so much damn money on base beautification. As an AF Civil Engineer, ive spent time on Air bases, Army camps, and a NCTC. Air bases look MUCH nicer, and it is unneccessary. For example, ive helped to installed fencing on one Airbase, that looks kinda like this: This type of fencing is NOT cheap, and we put it up all over the place. A chain link fence with a stretch of canvas would have accomplished the same thing, for 1/4 to 1/2 the cost. But nooooooo. The General wanted a pretty base more then functional equipment. (I hate Toy Bases) The "Spend all the money or we won't get as much next year" system needs to be redone. For those that don't know. Government agencies are alloted a fiscal budget. They get so much money a year. If they do not spend it, they don't get as much next year. From a big picture standpoint this makes sense. Why give an area more money that what they use and drive costs up? The trouble is at a local level these agencies are fearful of not having enough money to get their job done next fiscal year. So they make sure they spend ALL they money they get ever year, however they can. The end result? At the end of the fiscal year, you have 1 and 2 stripe airman being "issued" 50+ dollar tools, that they do not sign a hand receipt for. Which means, they don't have to give them back. If you never signed for it, its yours to keep. So Dear taxpayer, Thank your my Leatherman, my Super leatherman, Gerber multifunction tool, and Makita cordless drill. All free, on your dime. I kid you not, at one base i saw a guy going through the CE compound literally tossing these things out of a crate at anyone who wanted one. Naturally, we ALL did, who'd pass that up? (They were THAT desperate to spend the rest of the budget) Of course this was 14 years ago. Maybe times have changed. (I doubt it). Last edited by Ducimus; 03-02-11 at 06:31 PM.