Vet 0369

The Grunt’s perspective should ALWAYS trump all other perspective in these types of observations!

The Grunt’s perspective should ALWAYS trump all other perspective in these types of observations!

The Grunt’s perspective should ALWAYS trump all other perspective in these types of observations!

The Grunt’s perspective should ALWAYS trump all other perspective in these types of observations!

The Grunt’s perspective should ALWAYS trump all other perspective in these types of observations!

I suspect that much of the delays in sending and testing these systems in Ukraine are that too many companies, corporations, lobbiests, Government officials, and politicians have too much “skin in the game” with the systems to want to see them tested in “uncontrolled situations where they might fail to live up to what they said they would do. The longer they can be kept in “controlled situations, the longer they can keep getting their pay. I worked in Govt. projects and contracts in the 1980’s, and everyone made out like bandits except the taxpayers. I don’t expect they have changed for the better.

There are other factors involved in military R&D and other decisions. There still massive and cut-throat “turf wars” that the U.S. Military services engage in and shape the R&D and operational decisions by the Politicians. For example, after WW II, the newly created USAF worked very hard with their supporters in Congress to disband the U.S. Navy because the USAF had the Atomic bomb and there was no use for the Navy, and Congress could save all the Navy’s funding (or give it to the new USAF instead). A portion of the USAF, know as the “Fighter Mafia” has tried to get rid of the A-10 Warthog because it was designed to support the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army has been trying to gain control of the USMC or to absorb it since WW II ended. We’ve all seen how those “turf wars” ended. And the “turf wars” continue to this day!
One further note for those of you who think they aren’t still being fought behind closed doors. In the late 1980s I worked with USAF, USA, and USN reps to create an aircraft engine  Joint Engine Specification because each service had their own unique engine specification for the same basic engine. We met for about two weeks, but failed because the AirForce and Army reps couldn’t stop arguing about how the Army violated the “1948 Keywest Accords,” that basically divided air responsibilities between the USAF and the USA, when the Army put weapons on Helicopters!
This reality continues to determine what is researched and funded.
 

There are other factors involved in military R&D and other decisions. There still massive and cut-throat “turf wars” that the U.S. Military services engage in and shape the R&D and operational decisions by the Politicians. For example, after WW II, the newly created USAF worked very hard with their supporters in Congress to disband the U.S. Navy because the USAF had the Atomic bomb and there was no use for the Navy, and Congress could save all the Navy’s funding (or give it to the new USAF instead). A portion of the USAF, know as the “Fighter Mafia” has tried to get rid of the A-10 Warthog because it was designed to support the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army has been trying to gain control of the USMC or to absorb it since WW II ended. We’ve all seen how those “turf wars” ended. And the “turf wars” continue to this day!
One further note for those of you who think they aren’t still being fought behind closed doors. In the late 1980s I worked with USAF, USA, and USN reps to create an aircraft engine  Joint Engine Specification because each service had their own unique engine specification for the same basic engine. We met for about two weeks, but failed because the AirForce and Army reps couldn’t stop arguing about how the Army violated the “1948 Keywest Accords,” that basically divided air responsibilities between the USAF and the USA, when the Army put weapons on Helicopters!
This reality continues to determine what is researched and funded.
 

There are other factors involved in military R&D and other decisions. There still massive and cut-throat “turf wars” that the U.S. Military services engage in and shape the R&D and operational decisions by the Politicians. For example, after WW II, the newly created USAF worked very hard with their supporters in Congress to disband the U.S. Navy because the USAF had the Atomic bomb and there was no use for the Navy, and Congress could save all the Navy’s funding (or give it to the new USAF instead). A portion of the USAF, know as the “Fighter Mafia” has tried to get rid of the A-10 Warthog because it was designed to support the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army has been trying to gain control of the USMC or to absorb it since WW II ended. We’ve all seen how those “turf wars” ended. And the “turf wars” continue to this day!
One further note for those of you who think they aren’t still being fought behind closed doors. In the late 1980s I worked with USAF, USA, and USN reps to create an aircraft engine  Joint Engine Specification because each service had their own unique engine specification for the same basic engine. We met for about two weeks, but failed because the AirForce and Army reps couldn’t stop arguing about how the Army violated the “1948 Keywest Accords,” that basically divided air responsibilities between the USAF and the USA, when the Army put weapons on Helicopters!
This reality continues to determine what is researched and funded.
 

I think we also need to consider that in many cultures, the “pay to play” is so ingrained in the cultural psyche for literally millennium that the people you are dealing with see nothing wrong with it, and blame the “ridged western false morals” for the issue. I worked in a Bureaucracy for 20 years, but always tried to find a way I could do what the applicant or Engineer wanted, but still stay within the regulations. Most bureaucrats are just too lazy or risk adverse to do that.
 

I think we also need to consider that in many cultures, the “pay to play” is so ingrained in the cultural psyche for literally millennium that the people you are dealing with see nothing wrong with it, and blame the “ridged western false morals” for the issue. I worked in a Bureaucracy for 20 years, but always tried to find a way I could do what the applicant or Engineer wanted, but still stay within the regulations. Most bureaucrats are just too lazy or risk adverse to do that.
 

I think we also need to consider that in many cultures, the “pay to play” is so ingrained in the cultural psyche for literally millennium that the people you are dealing with see nothing wrong with it, and blame the “ridged western false morals” for the issue. I worked in a Bureaucracy for 20 years, but always tried to find a way I could do what the applicant or Engineer wanted, but still stay within the regulations. Most bureaucrats are just too lazy or risk adverse to do that.
 

Another indication that smoking is dangerous to your health!

Another indication that smoking is dangerous to your health!

Wellll, in reality, the myth that the Red Coats were “wiped by the militias on the march back to Boston is just that, a MYTH!  The Rebels lost about two to three times the number of casualties that the military lost. This was due to the Light Infantry flankers that the Red Coats sent out on both sides of the road to clear out the Rebel scum with one of the main weapons of the British Army, a thing called the bayonet.

Wellll, in reality, the myth that the Red Coats were “wiped by the militias on the march back to Boston is just that, a MYTH!  The Rebels lost about two to three times the number of casualties that the military lost. This was due to the Light Infantry flankers that the Red Coats sent out on both sides of the road to clear out the Rebel scum with one of the main weapons of the British Army, a thing called the bayonet.

You bet! In the USMC, we refer to those “eliminations as  CHOW TIME!

I understand it was a simple case of”d#$k gets hard, brain gets soft!”

I understand it was a simple case of”d#$k gets hard, brain gets soft!”

I understand it was a simple case of”d#$k gets hard, brain gets soft!”

I understand it was a simple case of”d#$k gets hard, brain gets soft!”

This! The National prejudice attitude that many on this forum seem to have toward Russians tends to color their comments and lead them to dehumanize and demonize the Russian people as ignorant savages who are always drunk, raping and killing babies. Yes, possibly the conscripts and prisoner “volunteers” are more brutal and resigned to their deaths than seems the norm. Can you say Igor Sikorsky, Tolstoy, Tchikovsky? Not everyone is ignorant, uneducated, and brutal. No one should be surprised by Russians who make intelligent and insightful statements. I see the same ignorant and prejudicial statements about every opponent the U.S. has ever faced. It’s much easier to kill a fellow Human being when you make that person out to be so inferior to you.

This! The National prejudice attitude that many on this forum seem to have toward Russians tends to color their comments and lead them to dehumanize and demonize the Russian people as ignorant savages who are always drunk, raping and killing babies. Yes, possibly the conscripts and prisoner “volunteers” are more brutal and resigned to their deaths than seems the norm. Can you say Igor Sikorsky, Tolstoy, Tchikovsky? Not everyone is ignorant, uneducated, and brutal. No one should be surprised by Russians who make intelligent and insightful statements. I see the same ignorant and prejudicial statements about every opponent the U.S. has ever faced. It’s much easier to kill a fellow Human being when you make that person out to be so inferior to you.

This! The National prejudice attitude that many on this forum seem to have toward Russians tends to color their comments and lead them to dehumanize and demonize the Russian people as ignorant savages who are always drunk, raping and killing babies. Yes, possibly the conscripts and prisoner “volunteers” are more brutal and resigned to their deaths than seems the norm. Can you say Igor Sikorsky, Tolstoy, Tchikovsky? Not everyone is ignorant, uneducated, and brutal. No one should be surprised by Russians who make intelligent and insightful statements. I see the same ignorant and prejudicial statements about every opponent the U.S. has ever faced. It’s much easier to kill a fellow Human being when you make that person out to be so inferior to you.

This! The National prejudice attitude that many on this forum seem to have toward Russians tends to color their comments and lead them to dehumanize and demonize the Russian people as ignorant savages who are always drunk, raping and killing babies. Yes, possibly the conscripts and prisoner “volunteers” are more brutal and resigned to their deaths than seems the norm. Can you say Igor Sikorsky, Tolstoy, Tchikovsky? Not everyone is ignorant, uneducated, and brutal. No one should be surprised by Russians who make intelligent and insightful statements. I see the same ignorant and prejudicial statements about every opponent the U.S. has ever faced. It’s much easier to kill a fellow Human being when you make that person out to be so inferior to you.