Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 12/10/04 6:58 am:
Pentagon's 'rapid acquisition' unit to speed up war procurement



SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, December 8, 2004
The Defense Department has formed a rapid response unit to expedite rapid procurement of weaponry to U.S. troops in Iraq.

The new group, termed Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell, was meant to accelerate delivery of off-the-shelf equipment and services for U.S. forces in Iraq and other areas challenged by Al Qaida and related groups.

Officials said one of the most pressing needs was for Arabic interpreters in the military, Middle East Newsline reported.

The Pentagon decision followed more than a year of complaints from U.S. military commanders of delays in mission-critical weapons and equipment, such as body armor and vehicle armor. Other immediate needs cited were defenses against improvised explosive devices, body heating and cooling systems.

Robert Buhrkuhl, director of the cell, said his unit could cut months and even years from the acquisition timetable. Buhrkuhl said procurement of weapons and equipment to Iraq has often been delayed by legal requirements. "We focus on near-term, logistical solutions," Buhrkuhl said. "Our role is not to look forward to new technologies."

The cell hoped to see a contract awarded for the first request received — for Arabic interpreters — by the end of November, Buhrkuhl said. No announcement has yet been issued regarding the contracting of interpreters.

Buhrkuhl said Congress has lifted many restrictions on weapons procurement. He said the Pentagon has sought to identify urgent operational needs, determine solutions and move toward acquisition.

Officials said the Pentagon unit would seek to act on requests for immediate warfighter needs as rapidly as 48 hours and within 14 days at the latest. They said the cell sought a process that would last no longer than four months from contract award to delivery.

Under a Sept. 3 memorandum that authorized the cell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz directed the Joint Staff, combatant commands and each service to appoint a liasion as part of their commitment to the cell.

Buhrkuhl said the assignment of senior employees as liasions would facilitate the procurement process.

"Having to get permission slows things down," Buhrkuhl said

Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 12/10/04 10:29 am:
Excon,

It is not Rummy's job to make the requisition, it is the military's job. And the military can only do so when it is approved under the TO&E or when a special requisition is approved. That all takes place within the day-to-day operations of the military, and is not something that Rummy is responsible for.

Chou,

There is no question that the setup was political in nature, and intended to hurt Rummy and by extension Bush in a political manner. In that sense, it makes perfect sense for this to be a political issue, since that was Pitt's intent in the first place.

Elliot

Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 12/10/04 11:10 am:
Sorry, Chou,

I meant for the 2nd part of my clarification above to be for Yiddishkeit.

Bobby, check out my clarification above.

Elliot

Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 12/10/04 12:25 pm:
Bobby ,there is no way to interpret my comments to suggest that I am not concerned about the troops safety . The fact is that soldiers for centuries have modified their equipment in the field .This is only a revelation to reporters evidently . If this reporter was doing his homework maybe he would've found out that no Humvee going North from Kuwait is driven unless it's armoured to "level 3" ,and that all other Hummers are brought to Iraq on the back of flatbed trucks. Maybe he would learn that unarmoured Humvees are not driven in the streets of Iraq but only around on post. Who knows ;maybe if SPC Wilson had asked his officers then maybe he would've been given that answer too .(http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=25928)

I am correct when pointed out that armour is a trade-off to mobility and it is not the panacea that everyone thinks it is .Soldiers in Fallujah have pointed out that having the up-armour restricts their visiblity and they have difficulty seeing an attack coming.

These 'town hall' meetings between the troops and the Sec.Def. are not unusual. They happen frequently and are very candid .The big difference this time is that the press was invited and there was a reporter trying to make a name for himself.

The reality is that if 100% of the Hummers were armoured you would be reading about the tires being exposed or maybe axels breaking or that transport vehicles are not armoured (even though the more weight you put on them the less load they can carry) . As Defense Tech points out ;that Hummer of the future will address the problems that they have encountered in a combat zone.

Rumsfeld gets criticized in this case for fielding tough questions from the troops.If he weren't he would also get criticized .It would have been very easy to select soldiers who would have made sure no embarrassing questions were asked ;but he didn't.I was not elevating him 'but in this case the criticism is unjust.

Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 12/10/04 1:04 pm:
excon ;if the reporter could not get his question asked at a regular press briefing then maybe he should learn to do his job better. a Q&A session between Sec.Def. and the troops was not the place and frankly makes the soldier look like a stooge.

Clarification/Follow-up by Yiddishkeit on 12/10/04 11:29 pm:
Tom-

**Rumsfeld gets criticized in this case for for fielding tough questions from the troops**

Wrong! He deserves my criticizism because he acted as if compromise was acceptable. He has a big mouth, but needs more time in the trenches. He reminds me of one of those butter bar greenhorned administrative officers that sh*ts his pants the first time he hears a mortar round go off in the distance. Now when soldiers are treking across Iraq they want to be protected as best as possible. Why is that Tom? It's because they have seen others DIE before because ofsilimar problems or mistakes. Yes they are going to modify the Humvee. The soldiers already knew that was needed. Rummy went offensive initially with two idiotic excuses before he admitted they were working to resolve the safety problem. This is not even near the mark of leadership I require from the Secretary of Defence.


Elliot-

I'm not into political accusations right now. I really could careless if the reporter set him up or not. The fact is that he was not held at gun point by the reporter and told to demonstrate poor leadership and make excuses...yet he did.


Tom and Elliot...as you know I think the world of you both and respect your political views, but my point has nothing to do with politics.




Bobby

Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 12/11/04 8:27 am:
The leadership is not lacking from him .The Rapid Acquisition Authority Bill was tied up by the Senate Armed Services Committee all year .Both Republicans and Democrats killed the bill. Their excuse was that the Defense Budget addressed the need for Rapid Acquisition.They were wrong.

As my responses illustrated ;when the field commanders started requesting more armoured hummers then they ratcheted up production of them .(from 15 to 450 per month ;today 3 of 4 hummers in the field are armoured).Soldiers in Kuwait certainly would not get the priority .Would SPC. Wilson prefer that he be assigned an armoured vehicle over a soldier in Fallujah ?I think maybe he would've been wise to ask his commanders about it first before asking Rumsfeld. Perhaps they could've answered his question before he became a pawn in a reporters stunt.

Clarification/Follow-up by Yiddishkeit on 12/11/04 10:15 pm:
Tom-

Guess what? The Las Vegas Review Journal headlines reads "Nevada unit made sure trucks had protection after Pentagon's mistake." You can claim the man has leadership skills until your blue in the face, but the fact remains the man used excuses instead of owning up to the need of the armored vehicles. He did not take the high road. The man is not a leader and personally after this latest episode he should be apologizing and followed up with his resignation speech. I think you would be wise to understand there were 2300 people applauding to Wilson's question and many of those were his commanders. What's sad is that Rumsfeld is the Sec of Defense, yet he wouldn't make a pimple on raw recruits *ss. How stupid the US is to think we were going into Iraq to fight against insurgents and terrorists unprepared. Screw Rumsfeld! I hope more soldiers ask question mabey the sob will start earning his pay...it might just save a few lives.




Bobby