first published week of: 12/12/2016
Brass were afraid findings were "unrealistic"—and would lead to bigger budget cuts
In January of 2015, as the US Department of Defense was chafing under the sequestration of its budget, the Pentagon leadership got some great news. A study prepared by the Defense Business Board (DBB) and a team from the global management consulting giant McKinsey and Company found that even with "moderate" changes to business practices, the DOD could save $125 billion over five years.
That would be enough to fully fund operations for 50 Army brigades, 10 Navy carrier strike group deployments, or 83 wings of F-35 fighter aircraft (one wing being about 36 aircraft—purchase price not included) for each of those five years. And all that savings could be had simply by fixing the military's bureaucratic back-office, according to the study—a force of more than one million uniformed government, civilian, and contractor employees. DOD's bureaucratic force is now almost as large as the military's active duty force itself, which stands at 1.3 million soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen. continued…