Wouldn’t fixing all this stuff be smarter than making new gear that will end up here anyway?
Field upon field of more than 1,000 battered M1 tanks, howitzers and other armored vehicles sit amid weeds here at the 15,000-acre Anniston Army Depot — the idle, hulking formations symbolic of an Army that is wearing out faster than it is being rebuilt.
An estimated $17 billion-plus worth of military equipment is destroyed or worn out each year, blasted by bombs, ground down by desert sand and used up to nine times the rate in times of peace. The gear is piling up at depots such as Anniston, waiting to be repaired.
The depletion of major equipment such as tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and especially helicopters and armored Humvees has left many military units in the United States without adequate training gear, officials say.
Partly as a result of the shortages, many U.S. units are rated “unready” to deploy, officials say, raising alarm in Congress and concern among military leaders at a time when Iraq strategy is under review by the White House and the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.
If the administration is so adamant that this war must be fought, why not make sure the soldiers have enough functioning equipment?
You could build an awesome levee with $17 billion.
Of course we’re not going to fix this stuff – that’s not where the money is! The arms suppliers make their billion$ off of selling new tanks, planes, etc. And that, along with the oil and the new permanent bases, is the main reason we’re in Iraq.
1. Sell 2nd grade military material to a dictator.
2. Claim he got WMDs.
3. Bomb the shit out of his country.
4. Sell more junk to the new regime.
#2
Don’t forget too that the mechanics have to have security clarance.
Ahem…
1. Sell 2nd grade military material to a dictator.
2. Claim he got WMDs.
3. Bomb the shit out of his country.
4. Sell more junk to the new regime.
5…….
6. Profit!
1. Sell 2nd grade military material to a dictator.
2. Claim he got WMDs.
3. Bomb the shit out of his country.
4. Sell more junk to the new regime.
5. Claim the Moral High Road.
6. Profit!
7. Proclaim Mission Accomplished.
I believe Saddam had Soviet Armor, Soviet/French planes, German bunkers, German long range guns, Soviet small arms and Soviet chemical weapons. The U.S. has sold arms to the Israel, Iran, Egypt, UAE, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. No first world country arms industry has clean hands in the middle east when there is so much money to be made.
#6 – I think you need to move step 7 to somewhere between 3 and 4.
Wait, so what you are saying is military equipment, like any other normal good, experiences linear depreciation? Extraordinary! This surely must be the result of a failed American foreign policy.
#7= NOT true – Saddam had both US and UK armor that we actually ended up fighting against in Gulf War I. (By GW 2 – The Possession, they had pretty much worn out as spare parts were not existent).
Must have been surreal being in an Abrams taking a bead on a surplus US M60 & M47 tank or M113 APC. . ..
Iraqi
Ground Forces Equipment (Saddam Era)
The equipment will take a lot of time to repair if it can be repaired. It’ll first have to be sorted then qualified technicians will have to do most of the repairs. But for now, most of the money will go to current operations. Similar to popular idea that we were using all those missles on Sadam because they couldn’t hand the Date change:)
On a different note the Abrams is getting a little old, it might better just to replace it with a better tank, I think they’ve finially dropped the idea of a airlift armoured car military, the Stryker has shown limited sucess, but it’s no match for anyone with an RPG and is useless in urban settings against armed opposition.
Yes, we will have to upgrade our military equipment China is arming at an incredible rate in land, sea and air arms. Unless there’s an understanding already and we’ve given up and are willing to live under both their shadow and Islam’s shadow, but then we’ll be an Islamic country in about 50 years, perhaps less but not much more. Europe will go first, it’ll be interesting to see if they end up be refugees.
You just can’t slap bondo on an armored vehicle. Repair kits has to be designed and tested. and that’s expensive. Many of these vehicles may have already gone through a major refit, and are near the end of their service life.
9,
The issue is not that we are surprised that equipment gets damaged and run down, it is that the equipment is not being repaired and that something should be done about it.
12,
Recognizing that these are not chevrolets, money spent on repair is far less than money spent on new gear. As for the level of tech in the vehicles, they are better than anything in that region. We are not, and INMSHO, will never fight China or Russia in a land war. Besides, do you have any idea how much it costs to develop a new vehicle?
Even if half of them are beyond repair, these tanks and other vehicles can be fixed and given to Guard units and those in training so they have something instead of the nothing they are using now. The rest should be scrapped and recycled, which also saves money.
I’m sure they will be cannibalized for parts and some rebuilt. My father worked at a Navy aviation facility for over 40 years. During Vietnam they regularly cannibalized damaged F4 Phantom airframes to keep the fleet suppled with immediate needs. Once they were stripped they were loaded on flatbeds to be hauled off to the dessert bone yards. It was a matter of immediate needs.
Should let the general public buy this stuff. I’d love to have my own tank to fix up.
14,
The problem is that what you describe isn’t happening, at least not in the depots covered in the report.
#6: I think you also forgot step 8: Target new country, repeat ad nauseam.
Curiously, Israel was one of the countries that US government used to launder weapons, including WMD-related, to Iraq.
#13 & 16,
Well put point. The NG could make good use of them.
Their repair? Sadly, probably true too.
Fixing will mean the end of the military complex as described by the late Eisenhower.
————————–
Eisenhower’s Farewell Address to the Nation
January 17, 1961
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/ike.htm
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This is the only business we have left so far in this country. From your and my tax money to the war makers. Enjoy!
Here’s where the vehicles seems to be sitting in Anniston (at Ft. McClellan, I would assume):
Google
Maps : Anniston, AL
*duh* .. .try this one, instead:
Google
Maps : Anniston, AL
Do your homework. The Army hasn’t bought a new tank in years. These will all be rebuilt from the ground up at Anniston
23,
Read the article. The point is that nothing is currently being done to them.