Shooting Our Wad

by pessimist

If I've said it once on this web site, I've said it a dozen times. What sense is there in outsourcing the most vital portions of our national defense overseas?

The biggest single reason that Japan lost the Pacific War so badly was that all - AHEM ALL - of their vital national defense resources were extremely vulnerable to attack by US submarines. Their oil, their metals, and many other materials were essentially non-existant in their land and had to be imported from abroad. Establishing secure sources of these materials was the reason they chose to go to war in the first place.

Despite extremely thorough studies by the Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee at the end of that war as to what factors caused the defeat of Japan (and Germany), our military, and our government, seem not to understand those lessons. We're about to deliberately go that same route ourselves:

Army running out of ammo, seeks bullets from foreigners

The U.S. Army said it will seek bullets from commercial and foreign producers because its biggest ammunition supplier, Alliant Techsystems Inc., can't keep up with demand.

Is this why our soldiers are going 'Bang! Bang! You're Dead!'?

Edina, Minnesota-based Alliant Friday said demand is rising to its highest level since the Vietnam War. Alliant will make 1.2 billion bullets this year, up 20 percent from last year, and plans to add capacity for another 300 million rounds, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Murphy said Friday during a conference call.

The Army wants to buy about 1.4 billion bullets this year and have the capacity for 2 billion rounds a year, said Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Butler, Army product manager for small- and medium-caliber ammunition. That is more than Alliant can make, and there are few other companies that can make military ammunition on such a large scale.

Meanwhile, on Main Street, America - where such items were once made in such numbers we would give them away to our allies - the factories are closed, the jobs sent away to other lands.

"The hope is to get it from the U.S., but worldwide suppliers are out there that provide this and it might not be totally available in the U.S.," said Butler.

Note that this connection between bullet shortages and closed American factories isn't made. As a taxpayer, I want the money spent on this officer's education at West Point refunded. He's obviously spent his time partying and getting a C-average.

To make up for the shortage, the Army recently awarded contracts to state-owned Israel Military Industries Ltd. and Olin Corp.'s Winchester unit, each for 70 million rounds, Butler said in a telephone interview. He said he couldn't disclose the value of the contracts. Besides Israel Military and Winchester, another potential supplier is Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., Butler said. Danielle St. Pierre, spokeswoman for SNC's ammunition unit, said she couldn't immediately comment. The Army will seek the balance from other suppliers, Butler said.

The Army on May 18 will meet with as many as 18 ammunition makers in Rock Island, Ill., to seek an integrator. That contract, the value of which hasn't been determined, will be awarded between December and April, Butler said. The Army plans to seek a company able to coordinate production of as much as 500 million rounds by a number of smaller producers, Butler said. He wouldn't say which companies will attend. "The strategy now going forward is to go through an integrator or someone who brings all that worldwide capacity together for us," said Butler. "I don't think there is anyone out there who could do it and make U.S. ammo."

Earth to the Army! Remember The Big One? The Good War? Rosie the Riveter? Meatless Tuesdays? Metal Drives? All so you guys could save the world from Axis tyranny - a war much larger than this little screwed-up fiasco you guys had to have? We in America supplied you with everything you needed to fight Hitler and Tojo and still had enough left over to supply all of our allies!!!!

You guys should be ashamed of yourselves, especially the very weekend the monument to those who fought the War To End All Wars v.2.0 was opened to the public!

The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq is struggling to control rising violence that in April alone killed more U.S. soldiers than during last year's war, which lasted about six weeks. With U.S. troops engaged abroad, live-fire training exercises to boost preparedness have also increased demand, Butler said.

"It's a surprise they are using so much ordnance over there," said Philip Finnegan, an analyst for the Teal Group consultancy in Fairfax, Virginia. "No one would have expected this a few months ago."

I guess this shows yet again that the Bush (mis)Administration didn't make plans for what would happen after the rose showers would end. Maybe we should make their plans for them - there might still be room in the Abu Ghraib.
That IS a five-star Baghdad hotel for foreign dignitaries - isn't it?

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