tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8591018003444406729.post8613997201307787123..comments2023-10-25T06:13:28.265-04:00Comments on The Conservative Wahoo: Hard Choices on Weapons SystemsThe Conservative Wahoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17818674434286683162noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8591018003444406729.post-50102814417230512782009-01-31T12:46:00.000-05:002009-01-31T12:46:00.000-05:00Air Force perspective: someone please consider kil...Air Force perspective: someone please consider killing the F-35 before it ruins everything. I have a win/win plan for how to do it, but killing the F-35 must be on the table.Acehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10799512006888426137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8591018003444406729.post-38700392464239961732009-01-31T11:18:00.000-05:002009-01-31T11:18:00.000-05:00As this blog is a little top-heavy wrt Navy input ...As this blog is a little top-heavy wrt Navy input (and that's not a bad thing, as my sea chanty repertoire has improved immensely), I thought I'd add a little Army perspective to this topic, coming recently from the budget world of Army G8 (and darn glad to be out of it).<BR/>Planning assumption #1 that went into the Army budget (POM) build: Senator Obama would win the election. We didn't do any red state/blue state hyper-analysis, just a BOGSAT (Bunch Of Guys Sitting Around Table) and best guess. We should have gone on the networks, but I digress...<BR/>We developed our budgets accordingly, looking across programs that would maintain key congressional support after the election (ie, budget cuts not likely to happen in Democrat-held states and districts) vs. those where the congressional district was at risk (such as some big-ticket BAE programs in Oklahoma -- 70% voted for McCain, probably first to get the budget axe).<BR/>With a tip of the hat to the Army Staff Program Analysis and Evaluation (a group who has the biggest say in how much a program gets cut, and who normally don't get a "tip of the hat" -- more like "tip of my boot"), planned program funding was pared back in many programs, especially those in Rebuplican-held districts. Lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth --it was a budget drill without the novicane -- but we made significant cuts, ready to present to the tithing dish we figured was going to be passed to DoD from a new administration.<BR/>We may have been politically incorrect in basing our funding assumptions on election results, but at least we were proactive. Just hope the numbers we came up with match what the administration will cut. The Army has probably already primed the pumps with OMB with its proposed budget cuts -- looking mighty magnanimous in the process. It helps that the CJCS calls the Army, "the Center of Gravity for DoD."<BR/>Yep, Future Combat Systems (FCS) is on the list. Had to be. Couldn't have a list that didn't include all the Services. But FCS design, development, procurement, and testing spans all 50 states. Some token $$ will be cut, but FCS will survive.<BR/>Pentagon programs and budgets are hugely complicated, especially when you look at the impact on districts, how current ops are funded, and how the cottage industry of programs developed and funded on GWOT dollars has sprung-up and now subsist solely on supplemental funding. Sec Gates hasn't had to make the tough budget decisions during his tenure -- mostly force-structure issues -- and the new crew of hopefuls coming in will soon learn what it's like when you try to cut funding of a program that provides the primary sourse of employment in a congressional district. <BR/>President Obama was elected on "Change You Can Believe In." It will be great sport to see the that change attempt brought to the Pentagon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com