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from the with-great-power-comes-great-responsibility dept.
The main reason why the U.S. military can promote global peace is because of the aura of invincibility it gained in World War II, because of the end of the Cold War, and because of its overwhelming military spending and technological advantage. But an aura of invincibility is a dangerous thing. And unfortunately, there are signs of rot.
Today, the U.S. military has fallen under the Bureaucracy Rule. The U.S. has no great power rivals, and thank God for that. Iraq and Afghanistan have not caused an identity crisis for the U.S. military because many senior commanders view these as "freakshow" wars — counterinsurgency wars, not the kind of "real" wars that militaries fight.
What are the signs that an organization has become a bureaucracy?
The first is excessive PowerPoint. Every organization should ban PowerPoint ( http://theweek.com/audio/442552/ban-powerpoint ). But it has become particularly endemic in the military ( http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/27powerpoint.html?_r=0 ).
The fact that the new Defense secretary has banned PowerPoint from some senior briefings is a step in the right direction ( http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2015/02/23/the-war-on-powerpoint-in-the-military-continues/ ).
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Saturday February 28 2015, @04:04PM
I was a defense contractor for a few years. Bureaucracy is not the biggest problem they have. Fear is. It is fear that drives America's military spending. Despite the tough guys attitude, they're afraid of everything. They know there are enemies all over the world who'd love to make them look bad, inflict a few casualties, do some damage. They're also hobbled by a military culture of obedience to orders, using force to get what they want, bullying, and punishment for failure.
The military guys demand that contractors deliver them the moon, Mars, and the whole sky too. How else can they be safe? Your job is to deliver. Failure is not an option. They want unbreakable security with backdoors for themselves only. Try to explain that that is impossible, that the mere existence of backdoors makes the security very breakable indeed, and they start threatening you! How dare you shove disagreeable reality in their faces. Don't tell them what's impossible. You"re lazy, or wimpy, and you could do it if you really wanted to because you're a genius. Why won't you? Is it because you're a Communist or Muslim sympathizer? Are you disloyal to your country? You're a liberal, that's the problem!
Then some lying sales weasel among the contractors tells them what they want to hear. He's trying to drum up more business for his contracting company, and is all too willing to play along with their paranoid fantasy world as long as he can. They like what they hear, they want to believe, but they're suspicious. Still, they use an offer like that to pressure you more. They turn back to you and demand answer why can't you do the same, this guy over here says he can. Are you incompetent?
Something else they're very much concerned about is being sold a bill of goods, the old $600 toilet seats, and becoming the butt of the next report on wasteful Pentagon spending. So they also want a bargain price, and try to beat you down. Then they demand stuff that drives expenses through the roof, like lots of paperwork, to cover themselves.
The only enemies they tend to see are ones that can be vanquished with bullets. If the enemy is Global Warming, whom do they shoot?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 28 2015, @04:16PM
There's your problem, you're dealing with delusional people. The obvious solution is to not deal with conservatives, eg deal with almost any MOS branch except infantry.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by pnkwarhall on Saturday February 28 2015, @08:42PM
If the only/major enemies left are ones that **can't** be vanquished with bullets, then where does that leave the military personnel/beauracracy/worldview? No one wants to admit they are irrelevant, or worse, realize that actively working against what they espouse to support--to themselves least of all.
~peace
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 2) by redneckmother on Saturday February 28 2015, @11:08PM
Too easy - EVERYONE (including themselves).
Mas cerveza por favor.