Military should have input

It has never been a secret that members of Congress will negotiate and deal to get military purchasing contracts for businesses in their own districts. Even some who are ardent advocates of budget cuts will solicit votes in Congress for military contracts.

According to military.com on Jan. 28, a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was held to discuss the effects of impending military budget cuts to start again in Fiscal Year 2016. Sen. John McCain, chairman of the committee, said that he wanted the service chiefs to have more input in the purchasing and acquisition process to prevent the purchase of weapons and equipment they don't need.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odiniero stated, "We are still having to procure systems we don't need," and he said the Army is spending "hundreds of millions of dollars on tanks that we simply don't have the structure for anymore." The Army has been trying to stop the purchase of more tanks for three years. Admiral Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, said, "There are too many people involved in the process."

He went on to say, "If I say 'I need a thing' ... there are a whole lot of people telling us 'no, this is what you really need.'"

These conversations have been taking place since sequestration began in 2012, yet no member of Congress has come up with a solution to how the military can meet its missions while their limited budgets are being raided for political considerations.

This problem predates sequestration and current budgetary problems. For example, in 1998 Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi successfully campaigned for building a new $1.5 billion helicopter aircraft carrier at the Ingalls Shipbuilding yard in Pascagoula, Miss. The U.S. Navy did not want the ship. It would have cost $950 million each to refurbish five existing older ships. However, the Navy already had seven more modern helicopter carriers.

This issue crosses party lines, and spending money for needless federal contracts to create jobs and improve their political prospects in response to lobbying should stop. Taking money from national defense needs to fuel unwanted projects is damaging the nation's security for political advancement.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He resides in Chaffee, Missouri.