Pentagon to retire the A10 Warthog?

[keefe]

Military may even be worse than Corps. for waste.

One peculiarity of DoD budgeting is that you need to spend all of your allocation for OpTar (Operations and Training) or you will get less the next budget cycle. So squadrons hoard money for two months then go on a spending spree in the last few weeks of every quarter. As the DO of a squadron I was applying PepsiCo budgeting principles on our OpTar spend plan until the Commander ripped me a new one for not spending every last cent.

And if a squadron doesn't spend everything the Group Commander will be on the horn looking for answers. This goes all the way up to the MajCom/Numbered AF level. This is not AF policy as every service does the same thing. Stupid way to run a railroad.

[Hards Alumni]

One peculiarity of DoD budgeting is that you need to spend all of your allocation for OpTar (Operations and Training) or you will get less the next budget cycle. So squadrons hoard money for two months then go on a spending spree in the last few weeks of every quarter. As the DO of a squadron I was applying PepsiCo budgeting principles on our OpTar spend plan until the Commander ripped me a new one for not spending every last cent.

And if a squadron doesn't spend everything the Group Commander will be on the horn looking for answers. This goes all the way up to the MajCom/Numbered AF level. This is not AF policy as every service does the same thing. Stupid way to run a railroad.

Same thing happens all over the US.  Schools, DOT, DOJ... you name it.  Spend it, or have your funding reduced for the next budget.

Totally asinine.

[mu03eng]

One peculiarity of DoD budgeting is that you need to spend all of your allocation for OpTar (Operations and Training) or you will get less the next budget cycle. So squadrons hoard money for two months then go on a spending spree in the last few weeks of every quarter. As the DO of a squadron I was applying PepsiCo budgeting principles on our OpTar spend plan until the Commander ripped me a new one for not spending every last cent.

And if a squadron doesn't spend everything the Group Commander will be on the horn looking for answers. This goes all the way up to the MajCom/Numbered AF level. This is not AF policy as every service does the same thing. Stupid way to run a railroad.

Yep my dad told stories of boring holes in the sky in the late 70s during the gas shortage because they had fuel budgets they had to burn up otherwise they wouldn't see them again the next year.

[jesmu84]

Same thing happens all over the US.  Schools, DOT, DOJ... you name it.  Spend it, or have your funding reduced for the next budget.

Totally asinine.

Not an econ or finance guy here... isn't there a better way to organize budgets?

[mu03eng]

Not an econ or finance guy here... isn't there a better way to organize budgets?

Absolutely, zero sum budgeting for one...but because most organizations punish for going over budget and don't reward for going under budget it promotes sandbagging and over budgeting to protect against risk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-based_budgeting

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Same thing happens all over the US.  Schools, DOT, DOJ... you name it.  Spend it, or have your funding reduced for the next budget.

Totally asinine.

I used to do business with VA hospitals and it was the same thing. They had to spend x Amount by the end of the quarter. Had no bearing on what they did or did not need. Just spend it or lose it. Disgraceful

[keefe]

Heard the other day someone said the Hogs could be back-stopped/replaced effectively with Spetre's.  Clearly they didn't know A) they are rapidly running out of those airframes too without replacement and B) never heard what happens to gunships in a high threat environment (Spirit 03)

Biggest problem with Fat Alberts is reaction time. They need to be mission-dedicated in order to play. Hawgs get to where the action is a lot faster. But Spectres put out a prodigious amount of lead and are almost always devastating immediately. A true difference maker that has saved lots of lives.