Towards a More Efficient Military

Baker Spring /

Pentagon (Photo by Newscom)

If you’ve ever waited in line at the DMV or tried to contact the IRS for help with your taxes, you’re no doubt aware that government bureaucracies tend to be inefficient. Well, the same thing holds true in the military.

On the front lines, America’s Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are unmatched. But behind the front lines stretches a supply chain that can run for hundreds of miles and involve thousands of people. Streamlining the bureaucracy involved in logistics would save the Pentagon money, which could then be reinvested to help the troops.

How much could the military save? A 2009 report from the Aerospace Industries Association estimates that the savings could amount to as much as $32 billion a year across five specific areas by implementing performance-based logistics. This is a system based on forging partnerships between Department of Defense employees and defense industry staff at the military’s logistical centers in the U.S. and abroad. (more…)