Driscoll’s comments stem from the new Army Transformation Initiative (ATI), which pledges to fundamentally change how the Army does business. It aims to streamline the Army’s command structure by trimming general officer positions and eliminating 1,000 staff positions at Army headquarters. It also proposes to “Eliminate Waste and Obsolete Programs,” which includes canceling Blackhawk helicopters, Hummers, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, and the Gray Eagle drone, and restore the Army’s right to repair its own equipment, instead of paying contractors billions of dollars to do the work.
Last week, Driscoll, along with Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Randy George, confronted what could be one of their biggest impediments to fully enacting the ATI: Congress. Even before the hearings took place, Driscoll told Punchbowl News last Monday that he was already getting pushback from both parties — a sign that he “made the right decision,” as Congress has regularly forced the Army to buy things soldiers say they don’t need.
While I applaud Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll’s efforts. I expect it will fail.
As said in the thread about “Dr” Oz ordering an audit of the Medicare Advantage program, is this real, or the opening moves of a shake down of the industry?
In 72, former Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans was head of fund raising for CREEP. Reportedly, Stans made the rounds of companies who had government contracts, demanding huge, secret, campaign “donations”, or they would never see another government contract. This operation was referred to as “the Stans shakedown cruise”.
Congress has let me cancel a few programs. But you’ve squabbled and sometimes bickered and horse-traded and ended up forcing me to spend money on weapons that don’t fill a vital need in these times of tight budgets and new requirements. … You’ve directed me to buy more M1s, F14s, and F16s—all great systems … but we have enough of them.