Use-it or lose-it: DoD dropped $4.6 million on crab and lobster, and $9,000 on a chair in...

OK, lets do this part by part. First off, yup, been a problem forever, spending money on stuff you don't need, so you don't get your budget cut. What they should do is find a way to reward people at different levels with bonus's for spending under their budget, but you have to make sure they don't screw people out of things they need then to put money in their pocket. Now lets look at "and $786.3 million on “guns, ammunition and bombs." The Pentagon spent the most on five of those products: $124.3 million on medium caliber ammunition, $92.3 million for modification purposes, $75 million on the Paveway family of laser-guided bombs, nearly $54 million on M795 TNT, and $2.8 million on 40mm ammunition systems." First off, we have been at war for 18 years, 2nd off, The House of Representatives, has switched party control, and those in control of the spending authorities, tend to cut the military funding, and increase social spending, without ever actually reducing mission. Thats pure wisdom in my mind, to stock up on bombs, med caliber ammo, and all that other stuff. Now lets look at "The DoD also spent big on public relations and marketing in September, inking $153.3 million in contracts." Really, you mean like recruiting commercials, sponsorship of NASCAR cars, and things they have been doing forever. Now lets look at "The military also dropped $86.5 million on transportation contracts, of which more than $53.5 million went to passenger vehicles from Navistar Defense, the maker of Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles." Gee, you have an issue with MRAP's, feel free to take a tour in Iraq or Afghan without having IED protection, hope you get home in one piece. Now we can look at "The Pentagon spent $2.3 million on crab, including snow crab, Alaskan king crab, and crab legs and claws, as well as another $2.3 million on lobster tail. Federal agencies also spent $293,245 on steak, to include rib eye, top sirloin and flank steak." Now I don't know what it was used for, but I know when I served in the Army a long time ago, once in a while, the mess hall would have steak for us. They totally screwed it up cooking it, but they had it. I had a friend in England who was in the Air Force who told me they got Lobster sometimes. So the use of this stuff for meals once in a while is not a ground breaking issue. My point in all this, is the writer took something thats a valid issue, and then wrote things certain ways to try to justify his story, when he could have actually brought up valid issues. But ammo, MRAP's, recruiting advertising, and food that might have been used at the annual unit ball when everyone showed up in dress blue's is not an issue.

Over 22 years in service and 7 of those in dorms and meal card and I can't remember a single meal that had crab legs or lobster and I was stationed in Maine for 5 years. Steak of any kind probably not more than ten times.
So somewhere out there is a base eating better than everyone else. Now I have heard that the Navy eats well at sea and if that's the case I got no problem with that anyone that can handle being on a boat 24/7 I say pass the steak sauce.

MSgt Michael Lane as CPL Andrew Cox Andrew Cox says, it works out to $2.50 a head. It isn't one unit or a few units. It's prime vendor sourced food service. Mostly deployed people eating a DLA 21 day menu over and over and over and over....

Even before 9/11, we had 1 steak meal per month. Usually one special sea food meal. That's from 1994 onwards. We used to grill a steak meal in the OPFOR on the eve of the Regimental Attack. I remember making apple pies on an MKT.