This article in the Washington Post caught my interest tonight because it reflects something pretty ugly about what I am hearing about the current nonsense of a single-solitary-lonely-little-contractor in far-off Malaysia who has been overcharging the navy for his services. It seems that somewhere there are men better than he who know what the real charges are for services in exotic foreign ports and it was wrong of this man to gouge the USN for services demanded by the USN who appears to have been more than willing to pay the fat man for all these years and yet now they want to renegotiate. So they threw the fat man in jail. I think he got that Egyptian film maker's cell; the one who was responsible for the non-terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Libya that killed the ambassador and three other men. He's out of jail now, for now.
The Navy gets gouged and gouged badly every single day on every contract in just about every way possible. That should come as no surprise. It can be no other way since the money is not their money and it is not your money. It is free money and those with free money are held to no account and no standard until long after the fact. In short, the alleged money aspect doesn't bother me since I worked at an acquisition command and it is all about spending the money and nothing about saving the free money or spending it wisely or getting value for the money.
Nope. What bugs me is that the case being tried in the press is one that accuses the accused of being guilty of selling classified information to the husbanding agent that will meet the ship with tugs, a pilot, line handlers, fuel oil, lube oil, sewage services, potable water, food, refrigerated storage, tour buses and drivers, sedans and vans and everything else sent in the classified Logistic Request Message sent from the ship to the Fleet Staff who turn it around and send the requirements to the embassy and the port liaison element and to the husbanding agent; a civilian foreign national with no security clearance. He gets the word on the ship's arrival in good time in order to make all those preparations. 30 days lead time is the norm for requesting Diplomatic Clearance for warships to enter foreign ports.
So anyway Vice Admiral Branch [Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Dominance and Director of Naval Intelligence] and Rear Admiral Loveless [Director of Intelligence Operations N2/N6I], your position has been established. Don't let us detain you as you head out the door and into retirement.
But there is another man you know. He was the admiral commanding the Seventh Fleet who is the man ultimately accountable for the behavior of his subordinates and for the performance of all of those now standing accused of high crimes and misdemeanors. What about you Admiral Swift? You're the Director, Navy Staff. You set the standard for everybody wearing a navy uniform and right now your standard is looking a little tarnished.
There was also another man who steered contracts to the fat man in jail. He's in charge now.
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