What is the best way to cut down on needless military spending?

2016-10-07T20:51:40-04:00

I'm a huge believer that the amount of paper and ink the military runs through is a HUGE waste of taxpayer money and could easily be spent elsewhere.
What are your thoughts on ways the military as a whole can save money without sacrificing readiness?

Response by SPC Erich Guenther made Oct 7 at 2016 9:11 PM

2016-10-07T21:11:30-04:00

How about no more than one uniform change every ten years or so.....lol (just kidding). OK so I understand where you are comming from with the paper and ink stuff but bureaucrats weather they be Army or Private company civilians.....have to print everything off before they read it, then they have to find a file cabinet to store it. I've been fighting this since 1992, don't bother fighting it, just let it be. One thing I would do is conduct regular audits of the Pentagon to see where money is spent and how effectively it is spent. I would start there because we have been promised again and again it will happen but it never does. I would also apply the same standard to discretionary programs especially the money we spend on K-12 education and State University Education because they both consume and waste money in the same way the Pentagon does but nobody asks questions because "it's for the kids"........yeah thats BS, tax money is tax money.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 7 at 2016 9:57 PM

2016-10-07T21:57:32-04:00

SSG Private RallyPoint Member , Oh man what a large can of worms you chose to open. If I had a week and not married, I would LOVE to list everything that could be rid of.

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Oct 7 at 2016 10:01 PM

2016-10-07T22:01:28-04:00

One small step: At the range in August or September - "All right people, we got to burn up all this excess ammo because if we don't we won't get our required allotment for next year". So much waste is done this way, not only with ammo but with all SSSC items and services. Talk to the Food Services. If saved, then the unit should be credited it and get "brownie points" for such.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 9 at 2016 5:40 PM

2016-10-09T17:40:46-04:00

We need to change the way we do a budget. We need to reward going under budget we need to look at what a unit needs not by what they did last year but what it takes them to do the job and reward them for going under budget. Also give lower levels a little bit of flexibility in there budgets so they can spend the money where they need it. Reward for using the money wisely.

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made Oct 12 at 2016 3:37 PM

2016-10-12T15:37:15-04:00

For one thing, end the government contracts which only function to fatten a politicians pocket. I'm an admin MOS. I use paper and ink a lot. But when I need to resupply, I am literally paying 1000 bucks for a 150 dollar ink cartridge. It's freaking ridiculous, especially when we were going through the budget cuts and draw downs. We should only be paying the actual cost of things, not a huge markup because our hands are contractually tied.