According to an article published in the Washington Post by correspondents incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops in a Virginia landfill, far more than the military had acknowledged, before halting the secretive practice three years ago. The landfill dumping was concealed from families who had authorized the military to dispose of the remains in a dignified and respectful manner, Air Force officials said. There are no plans, they said, to alert those families ...
Continue Reading →Military Procurement and Counterfeit Parts
In yet another glaring example of seeing the trees rather than the forest, US Senators are now patting themselves on the back for proposing new legislation that would theoretically make it more difficult for military contractors to use counterfeit parts in combat equipment and protective gear supplied to our military forces. According to news reports, the Senate cleared yet another hurdle to pass its version of the National Defense Authorization Act. In a key amendment to ...
Continue Reading →The US Military Budget Debate
The US military budget is roughly $700 billion a year and defense leaders are being asked to cut costs of this sizable and growing budget. According to a recent article published by NPR, the defense budget represents approximately 50% of total discretionary federal spending. While the Department of Defense has committed to cut $450 billion in spending over the next ten years, the sad reality is that overall military spending is likely to remain at ...
Continue Reading →Point Blank settles body armor suit with DoJ
In yet another indication that our military procurement process is out of control is the news that Point Blank – who makes much of the body armor vests worn by our military – has finally settled a long-standing suit with the Department of Justice.
According to a news release cited by Thomson Reuters, “The government asked for “tens of millions” of dollars in penalties and damages, saying that from 1999 to August of 2005 the company knew or disregarded ...
Continue Reading →Corruption in the Military Procurement Process: McCain Weighs In
Senator John McCain, a decorated warrior who has sacrificed much for this country, would do well to take action rather than talk. At a recent Congressional hearing on cuts to the military budget, Senator McCain remarked:
“As far as I’m concerned, I will fight any additional cuts in defense spending,” he added, “but I will also tell you that cost overruns as far as procurement is concerned is an insult to American taxpayers. There are efficiencies that ...
Continue Reading →Body Armor Contracts: The Stench of Corruption
With Wall Street protests popping up in many cities in the United States and over 150,000 signatures now collected on a new Constitutional amendment to “get the money out” of politics, it was a bit of surprise to read that Point Blank Solutions has recently received a new $30 million order to produce “Outer Tactical Vests” for the US military.
Why should I be surprised? Well, Point Blank Solutions has been in Chapter 11 (a court-sanctioned ...
Continue Reading →Body Armor Testing: Spin Doctors working overtime
The latest flap over think is really “real” or even close to the truth.
This morning, I woke up and read an article on Yahoo’s news entitled “Is America’s Body Armor Defective?” The alleged author of the article is Charles Simmins. Now I have no idea who Charles Simmins is, but apparently there is a Yahoo contributor and freelance author named Charles Simmins who is an accountant. Nevertheless, if this Charles Simmins is the Charles Simmins of ...
Continue Reading →Body Armor Testing: Deja vu all over again.
Every couple of years or so (and sometimes more frequently) US Army body armor testing procedures are called into question by investigating authorities. There used to be a saying among Army troops “that you never had time to do things right, but you always had time to do them again.” Well, apparently in this modern army, you don’t even have “to do things right” if Lt. Gen. Phillips and his cohorts like Col. Cole, Project Manager for Soldier Protection, and US Army ...
Continue Reading →Body Armor Testing: Pentagon Spin Doctors at Work Again
The Pentagon spin doctors are working overtime to cover-up the latest IG report from the DoD which chides the Army for the lack of proper testing for is the most tested body armor in the world today.”
Lt. Gen Phillips goes on to say, “”I am not aware of any incident down range where the body armor failed to protect against a round that it was designed to defeat.” The US Army then trots out examples of where the ...
Continue Reading →The “Ugly Truth” of Body Armor Testing
Designer of Interceptor Body Armor: The “Ugly” Truth About Army & Contractors Ignoring Stringent Test Requirements for Interceptor Body Armor
[Editor’s note: Col. Jim Magee, USMC (Ret.) noted our recent posting on the “reality testing” for body armor that has been substituted for required acceptance testing by contractors before they ship protective plates for issue to our troops. He provided the following additional insights on the scandalous situation that has been allowed to develop.]The body armor testing ...
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