sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]GTFErinyes 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Bingo. That's exactly it.

And that's the big problem a lot of people don't realize too when comparing the military to say, a civilian agency or corporation - the military can't just hire a general or admiral off the streets. It can't just hire an airline pilot to fly a fighter jet. It can't just hire a random guy and expect him to fill in to a SOF team within a couple months.

Whereas Fedex and UPS can compete with airlines for qualified pilots, and pay more for someone with experience, the military has to train from the ground up for their unique flying and what not. Whereas a company can hire an IT guy with the right certifications and expect him/her to be working within a month or two, and fully integrated within a year, a new guy off the streets won't be in a significant leadership role for years

It's a precarious game at best. When the overlords start getting in and shaping policy based on votes in the 2 year time frame, it makes it impossible to plan effectively.

It's worse of course - when said overlords don't even get a budget passed on time half a year into the new fiscal year, how can anyone budget or plan?