https://www.armytimes.com/news...-as-inconsequential/



WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Jim Mattis scolded top defense officials for a “complacent” mode of thinking that allowed $28 million to be wasted on Afghan army uniforms that were inappropriate for fighting in Afghanistan.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction exposed the waste in June when it found that the Pentagon’s decision to procure a dark forest-patterned uniform for the Afghan army was incongruous with the country’s largely desert environment. The Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan selected the dark uniform in 2008, SIGAR found, without determining whether it was right for Afghanistan. DoD had purchased more than 1.3 million of these uniforms as of June, SIGAR reported.

Moreso, the SIGAR found, DoD bypassed its own digital patterns it owned and contracted a firm whose proprietary rights over the forest pattern significantly increased the cost of the shirt and pants purchases.

Mattis used SIGAR’s findings to highlight what he said he saw as wasteful complacency.

“Buying uniforms for our Afghan partners, and doing so in a way that may have wasted tens of millions of taxpayer dollars over a ten-year period, must not be seen as inconsequential,” Mattis said in his memo, addressed to the under secretaries for acquisition, policy and finance. Those departments head the Afghanistan Resource Oversight Council, a group responsible for decisions on procurement to support the Afghan National Security Forces.

“I highlight this report because it reveals two truths about our line of work. [First] our every action contributes to our larger mission,” Mattis said. Second, “our procurement decisions have a lasting impact on the larger defense budget.”

“Cavalier or casually acquiescent decisions to spend taxpayer dollars in an ineffective and wasteful manner are not to recur,” Mattis said.

Wonder who the contractor was that got that contract?

quote:

Originally posted by jbcummings:
Wonder who the contractor was that got that contract?

Hyperstealth

Afghanistan adopted their "Spec4ce Forest" pattern. (Despite the fact that a mere 2.1% of Afghanistan consists of forests.)

“Cavalier or casually acquiescent decisions to spend taxpayer dollars in an ineffective and wasteful manner are not to recur,” Mattis said.

Hell yes!

I'd like to see managers take that tone in the private sector just to watch the snowflakes melt.

Nice.

I hope that sort of scrutiny regarding budgets continues, in earnest, from here on out.

Hundreds of billions of dollars are "wasted" annually in thousands of instances and we're supposed to accept that it's all due to incompetence. Most are naive enough to believe it.

So, not only did they pick an inappropriate camo pattern, they paid a company royalties for their forest pattern when the government owns its own pattern that it developed for tens of millions.

Consequences for someone in federal government?

Who does Mattis think he is now?

What's even sadder, the Spec4ce patterns are probably the very best visual and near IR patterns there are (according to camo trials) and they certainly have both arid and universal versions that could have been chosen instead. What a waste.

Not nearly as bad as the $2+ Billion the Army spent on the ACU (UCP) fiasco. We had the "Scorpion"/OCP pattern developed with Natick and Crye back in 2004, could have went to that from the start.

quote:

Originally posted by jbcummings:
Wonder who the contractor was that got that contract?

One of Obama's or Billary's buddies, I am sure!!!!!1

I cant help but wonder if the Afgans will ever be able to buy their own uniforms...

Are those Afghanies zonked on opium?

Why are we buying their damn uniforms anyways?

The gold bracelet helps the camouflage

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by jbcummings:
Wonder who the contractor was that got that contract?

One of Obama's or Billary's buddies, I am sure!!!!!1

Michelle's Brother, perhaps...

The irony is that beyond gross color matching camouflage is almost pointless on an actual battl field. We'd do just as well with khaki or OD green fatigues as any cammo pattern

Side note:
I wonder why ATACS AU hasn't caught on more.

Coming soon to an army-navy surplus store near you.

"DoD had purchased more than 1.3 million of these uniforms as of June, SIGAR reported."

That number is about the total strength of active duty US Army.

Why do we invest our treasure arming Islam, anywhere, anytime?

quote:

Originally posted by jbcummings:
Wonder who the contractor was that got that contract?

I wonder who got the kickback.

quote:

Originally posted by jbcummings:
Wonder who the contractor was that got that contract?

This is where I would start the congressional probe. It sort of smells like a deal didn't go through and they needed to dump a lot of product some where, making a tidy profit is a bonus.