Of all the entities in Washington, it's the GAO and the Library of Congress I'd expect to see pushing back the hardest, and here it is. Good job by people who genuinely care about us.
this post was submitted on 16 May 2025
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I'm an evil government employee and doubly evil since I work for DoD. I'm down with finding fraud, waste, and abuse. The issue is I also think that DOGE needs to sloe it rill a bit and ask why a system is why it is. I'm sure there are efficiencies and they need to be enacted but we need to ask why we use the systems we use. The USG cannot move fast and break things because people aren't companies and don't have the capital to react.
If there are back end process that need to be changed that great change away but to beneficiaries it should be transparent.
If you want to change the military and its procurement spell out the case. If you want to cut personnel let's have a discussion some services like the Army and Marine Corps personnel are the weapon.
If there is to much civilian control of the military let's line item that, which civilians do you want to cut? Then contrast that list with people the military has spent mega dollars to train.
Then there's the cut off, the Army sends hundreds of people to post secondary schools every quarter (I was one of those) is there a value add to cutting Bob who's gone through either NCOES or OES and gone on to be DoD civilians?
On a personal level I enlisted after college with my degree in Philosophy, I went through all the NCO schools, then after commission I've gotten two masters degrees do we really want to cut me loose after my enlisted and officer training schedules.
Do we not want trained people in both the civilian and civilian education system helping to decide the future of the military.
I will admit that my time in uniform beginning 25 years ago does not make me a subject matter expert in modern conflicts the education the Army paid for gives me some perspective on where the Army should go.
I've not been in a peer to peer engagement but I do understand the how and why of modern weapons and can make assumptions about infantry weapons going forward
There are thousands of subject matter experts working as civilians in DoD, they've spent not an insignificant amount of money training us so why discard us
. I’m sure there are efficiencies and they need to be enacted but we need to ask why we use the systems we use.
Yes. This is sometimes known as chesterton's fence
https://theknowledge.io/chestertons-fence-explained/
G.K. Chesterton was an early 20th century English writer known for his clever paradoxes.
He once wrote: “There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, ‘I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.’ To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: ‘If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.’”
In other words, don’t be so quick to tear down things you don’t understand. That fence may have been put up for a very good reason, even if that reason is not immediately obvious. To ignore that reality risks unintended and potentially negative consequences.
We talking about a team trying to find inefficiency in the GAO or a team being sent to figure out how to do their job better?
Like me submitting for PTO – request denied.