This,



I contracted in a .gov Depot shop and would watch 50 year old WG and WL 12/13s sitting on their ass during mandatory overtime, reading the paper and drinking coffee, while I put out 4 pieces of Code A gear for every 1 they did.  To be fair there were some younger hard chargers (.gov) who busted their asses too, but the majority of them were useless and waiting on retirement and management couldn't do anything but shift useless employees around.



Without the contractors, the USMC wouldn't have had half of its LAVs in working condition.  We were working mandatory 72 hour weeks for an entire quarter just to keep up with the work.





 

Already has...
Federal Court Rules 8A Program Unconstitutional
Decision




 

Some cuts are necessary on the defense side. No doubt about that. But make the cuts where needed not because someone didn't get their ass kissed enough. If the work is exceptional then keep it going. If not then pull the plug and move the work somewhere else.

I do to.  And I'm a contractor right now.

I also want to see a reduction in entitlement spending.  The amount of fraud in that system alone, if cut, would make more of a difference than a 20% reduction in .mil contract costs.

Would you care to cut the sarcasm and give us some pithy comments as to why you would say such a thing?



LWilde:  Retired Navy Chief-CWO-LDO; currently employed as a university lecturer and DoD contractor.  



I wait for your cogent response.



 

You too!  A neighbor?





What's with all the jealousy, Girls?  



ETA:  Sad to see that LM caved.  Clearly the Obama team made them an offer they can't refuse like killing the F-35 and deciding to cancel their part of the LCS if they don't come to heel.



Fuck...





 

Bear in mind this affects all branches of government, not just the DoD.

So, come Jan 1 we just might find 10% fewer people at the ATF NFA branch processing transfers.

I don't see how they could.  That's a Congress decision, not executive branch.

Sadly, I must disagree.  The President has the authority to cancel any DoD acquisition program.  For example, Jimmy Carter cancelled the B-1 aircraft and decided to fund the cruise missile development.  After Ronaldus Magnus took office, he brought back the B-1 albeit much altered, kept the cruise missile and killed the Sergeant York Divisional Air Defense pig.  That was the fat-assed 40mm AAA gun system consisting of a gigantic turret with two guns, a radar, a computer fire control system and other, assorted junk.  Damn thing could not keep up with the armored forces on the move, it was vulnerable to just about everything over 7.62mm and it couldn't hit shit.  During final testing, when they were trying to engage a tethered helo, the radar detected the JEM lines from a small outbuilding cooler and engaged said building.  Rumor has it that it was an outhouse.  Blew the crap out of it too.



Go back farther...to the beginning of the DoD, just after the National Defense Act of 1949 and you will see that SECDEF Johnson (Who just by mere chance was once CEO and on the board of Consolidated Vultee, aka "Convair".) killed the Navy's new aircraft carrier (65% complete at the time) but decided to fully fund the monster turkey B-36 "intercontinental" bomber.  The problems with that plane was legion...and covered up by DoD.  The Navy challenged the USAF to a mock intercept but the powder blue boyz sensibly declined.  They KNEW it was easily vulnerable.  Why?  Because the plane never met its core performance requirements...while carrying a nuclear weapon!  Even empty it was a turkey.  The USAF had to forward stage the B-36s to overseas bases or Alaska to reach their targets in the Soviet Union.  It could not fly high enough or fast enough (Yes...even with the 4 jets added.) to evade enemy interceptors.  Lots of folks in DC knew all this shit...and it led to the "Revolt of the Admirals".  And yes...Johnson was following Truman's orders to cut back on the military so he could spend the $$$ on social welfare programs.



The A-12 Navy LO attack bomber met the same fate, but yes, there was congressional influence, since it had long ago blown through Nunn-McCurdy limits.  http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41293.pdf





 

Maybe with the cuts one would qualify for an Obama phone and Obama bucks? Oh wait, according to CWG the wages are over-inflated. Everybody should have at least 6 months of wages in the bank, right?

On another note, I received a mailer from Americans For Tax Reform. It says $144,451 was spent to see how monkeys react under the influence of cocaine. And there's Obamas face underneath it. Fuk'n awesome! Only Americans spent how many hundreds of millions to see the effects over the last 3.5 years? Yep I compared him to a ...

Love election season!

No he does not.  Congress, and Congress only, has that authority.


 

Neither of those could have happened without Congressional approval.  If the House doesn't approve money for it, it ain't happening.  If the House mandates money be spent for it, and the Senate concurs, there is nothing the President or anyone under him can do - hence the extra cargo airplanes the Air Force is getting that it doesn't want, the SR-71s it was required to keep in flyable condition against its will, and the maintenance of the battleships and their spares, against the Navy's wishes, for a while.



I'm familiar with it.  In fact, there used to be a joke picture of me on one at NTC, captioned "former Project Manager".



To be fair, if those armed forces included 113 based vehicles, it could keep up ...



The keel of the USS United States had only been laid 5 days before.  If it was 65% complete, it damned sure wasn't a union shop ...




Yes, it had problems.  It was also the only thing that could haul a hydrogen bomb.  It's hard to realize how urgent it was to get that capability.  For  a look at how far we were willng to go, consider the emergency capability ("jughead" and others) bombs.

If you are in Virginia or one of the affected states I encourage you to write Ken Cuchinelli the AG here in Va or your state and ask him to get involved in a blatantviolation of federal law and that the fines that the law requires Obama said the gov will absorb for the companies. this is about not telling people they arre losing their job in January days before the election. the companies should be sued and forced to follow the law and if your an employee who doesnt get their 60 day notice you should hire a lawyer and sue, as much as I hate lawyers this is obstuctionism and election fraud as far as I am concerned. Do something folks and dont let it stand

Once again, I must disagree with the identity of who has the authority to cancel a program during its acquisition cycle.  By law Congress controls the purse strings.  They certain can fund/defund any project.  That said, the Executive Branch in the body of the President and SECDEF and the services' Milestone Decision Authorities have the authority to cancel any DoD program under their control.  Cap Wienberger killed the DIVADS...not congress.  Having done so, then congress defunds the program.  Semantics...merely semantics.





I understand fully the critical need to get operational thermonuclear weapons into our stockpile.  I worked in the nuclear weapons program for 17 years.  BTW...the EC-16 Jugheads never achieved operational capability and only one B-36 was converted to carry the monster.  IIRC there were about five made...and they only lasted a short time before being decommissioned.  The EC-17/24s, which were essentially operational Castle Romeo weapons using lithium-6 deuteride (⁶Li²H or ⁶LiD) as the fusion fuel in a Teller-Ulam design.  The EC-17 was the Mk-17 bomb.  It was 24' long 5' in diameter, and weighed 21 tons!  I can't imagine how the AF dudes ever loaded one on a B-36.  Good thing they had looooooonnnnggg runways!  The only bomb bigger was Tsar Bomba.





Good point about the carrier.  I thought it was much further along.  Gonna have to review, "The Revolt of the Admirals" again...






 
 

Thanks for the link. I will be contacting my state DOL and AG office tomorrow. We received 24 hours notice before being kicked out.

Good luck.

aircraft and ships are a fairly small part of Lockheed's portfolio. most of their $$ does come from .gov and .mil contracts, though.

It is worth a shot. The contractor was shady and treated employees like a turd. Human Resources  and legal advice via Google. Top notch stuff.

I'm the chair of a local Youth Organization. Most of the folks represented are upper middle class, very white, educated, mostly two parent families. Today we were in a meeting discussing fund raising for our various programs and the numbers are considerably off from last year. The discussion got around to  the activities that we do- major trips to Europe, places like New York, Hawaii- costing $2-3k etc.......A large number of people openly admitted they simply could not afford it- unusual because the organization is largely seen as an "upper crust" sort of group and "appearances" ARE important.... I heard the word Depression at least twice and "things have changed" several times. These are very normal people- they are teachers, work in banks, insurance agencies and small businesses etc...They are FUCKING SCARED, period. I don't give a shit how great the stock market is..... they Aren't Buying It, end of story!

You should see the trucking industry. I have a front row seat because of what the family is in to. The economy is terrible right now. Numbers don't lie, just the tards in washington especially the HNIC. The area I live in has low unemployment but decent  paying jobs lost are hard to make up. I would love to get my own business rolling but that hinges on the American people making the right choice. Unfortunately I dont have faith in my fellow Americans. Fingers crossed.

I'm usually a "the glass is half full" kind of guy but I'm starting to agree.

I'm a defense contractor. Going away quickly, easily and with a "thanks for doing business with us, Hope you choose us next time you need help" is the main reason why Contractors are of any use.  

Might be time to sail back to the Bahamas, but my guys support folks that are probably gonna be busy if the news is any indication......

Good luck out there when the shit really starts hitting the fan.

contractor here too... and unless your on contract... you arent as cush as people think...

I may be mistaken, but they can also direct that appropriated money be spent, especially for the military. This would be Article 1, Section 8, subsections 12 through 14 of the Constiution.



You do have a point.  Sometimes there is quite a gap between what is supposed to be, and how it is.




Great to hear from an expert!  Perhaps you can correct me where I am wrong - I thought the "Emergency Capability" devices started out with 5 EC-14 (lithium 6 fusion fuel)  and 5 EC-16 (cryogenic deuterium fuel) - the "Jughead" being a simplified and scaled down Ivy Mike device, with the 2 story building cryogenics plant replaced with big thermos bottles in the airplane, constantly topping off boiled off hydrogen.  I don't know, but suspect, that the "Operation Barroom" modification to the B-36 consitsted of installing the flasks and associated connections and equipment, to top off the bomb.

They were pretty sure the EC-16 would work, because it was based off of 'Ivy Mike".  They weren't confident that EC-14 would until it successfully test fired.  Once it did, the conversion of more B-36s was no longer considered, as it wasn't needed.    The EC-14s were then upgraded with things like a drouge parachute, contact fueses, and in-flight fuse insertion, to become actual weapons, until the Mark 17 (lithium 7 fuel) came on line., once Castle Bravo proved lithium 7 would work .  I do not know, but have heard, that the "Jugheads" were rebuilt into Mark 17 devices.  The casings and primaries should have been similar.

Lemme get this straight...

So they're telling people to break the law and expecting taxpayers to pick up the tab?

You can cut a shitload of money right out of the DOD by enforcing a few of Kelly Johnson's rules.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Johnson_%28engineer%29#Kelly_Johnson.27s_14_Rules_of_Management

4. A very simple drawing and drawing release system with great flexibility for making changes must be provided.
5. There must be a minimum number of reports required, but important work must be recorded thoroughly.
7. The contractor must be delegated and must assume more than normal responsibility to get good vendor bids for subcontract on the project. Commercial bid procedures are very often better than military ones.
10. The specifications applying to the hardware must be agreed to well in advance of contracting. The Skunk Works practice of having a specification section stating clearly which important military specification items will not knowingly be complied with and reasons therefore is highly recommended.

Done. Millions saved.  4 alone would save a shitton of money. On 5, I know people who spend more time writing reports (especially to Congress and Senior executive branch folks) about what they're doing then actually doing their jobs.
Also, set fire to every copy of the Integrated Defense Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Life Cycle Management Framework and we shall never speak of it again.

It seems that way , more and more each day .





Not too sure Romney will be able to keep it afloat at this rate . . . . . that is . . . IF he wins
meanwhile . . . . . .  





 

The Hershey Squirts as far as I can tell.

Definitely the squirts. Anxiously awaiting reply from State A.G. office.

Sarcasm noted.



I would agree with the rest of your post.  EC-16 never made it into the nuclear stockpile.  It was an existential threat nonetheless.  And yes, it was based on the Ivy Mike shot.  What a beast!  EC-14 was one fat bastard, huh?  Pretty damn heavy at 15T too.  IIRC it was the first bomb to use the solid lithium fuel in the secondary.



On a side note...several years ago, I had the pleasure of discussing some of this and the deaths of Dahlgian and Slotin with Edward Teller.  The old man was still sharp as hell.  This must have been about 1990.
 

Yes.  NOTHING is more important to a liberal than maintaining power.



 

Our states statues are a little stricter I believe as far as the number of employees needed for notification. Contractor never even contacted the state to notify of the layoff. I checked the week before because shit was fucked up with the contract.

One member on here provides an extremely important service for the troops and other armed personnel and those services were left out of the contract. What ya gonna do when you can't shoot back because your weapon failed? Drop the mag into your throwing hand and Favre it at the fucker? Gov't sure is smart ain't they?

No sarcasm meant.

It must have been a sobering job to be the flight crew tasked with a one way flight to the Soviet Union, to be destroyed by your own bomb if you made it.  Crazy times.

Received call from attorney at AG office. He says they can't do anything until a politician complains and then they get involved (hint hint). Suggested I try DWD and they will investigate. Placing call today. Unfortunately my congressman is Ron Kind (D). He sure loves the HNIC. Going to try Paul Ryan's office and Ron Johnson also.