https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/04/us/marine-helicopter-crash-california/index.html
Haven't gotten any word as to who passed away yet, but there's a decent chance I knew 1 or 2 of them. Buddies of mine who were in that squadron said something like this was bound to happen. For all the money the Military gets they really don't use much of it in Marine aviation, and only a handful of those helicopters were actually flight worthy due to lack of parts and equipment. I've lost more friends to mishaps like this than to combat, and a lot of them have been traced to poor or improper maintenance.
What the hell is the government spending that huge military budget on if they aren’t bothering to use it on maintaining equipment which is already in service?
Also if the cause turns out to be something stupid like an easily preventable mechanical failure due to poor maintenance, does anyone get held accountable?
Jesus.. Sorry man
I have no idea how military funding works, but do you think this'll prompt your high ups to take a closer look at aircraft safety?
Would events like this shift some focus?
Maintenance crews spending more time training and maintaining aren't lobbying fatcats, budget goes toward manufacturing
To add what dai said above the Marine Corps gets a pretty small budget in comparison to the other branches. 4% of the total budget to be specific ($40 Billion), and about $100 Billion less than the next lowest funded branch. I remember from my time in a lot of training equipment were all Vietnam era stuff, with only front line troops (those overseas) given up to date gear. Hell my canteens from combat training were dated 72' and 84'.
There were stories of Marine C-130 units hitting up museums to get parts for the old models since they had run out of stock in the bone yards and no longer produce the parts as the Marines didn't have the funds to update to newer versions of the aircraft.
What a gross misuse of funds and planning. It's sickening that for a military so well-funded and "honored" by the people, that it would be left in such a dismal state.
For the military, it seems that love is only skin-deep.
In the Marine Corps defense the only reason they still exist is because of how effective they are with such a little budget. For all intents and purposes the Marine Corps doesn't need to exist; everything it does is also done by the other 3 branches. It has been on the chopping block multiple times throughout history because at it's core it is a redundant force that could easily have its tasks done by the Army and Navy alone. For that reason the Marines have had a history of trying to run as lean as possible in regards to funding in order to help bolster its image in the greater DOD's eyes while for the most part still maintaining combat effectiveness.
However, because of that not only is much of its equipment outdated but it doesn't receive enough funds to properly maintain its non-combat (as in not in combat currently) essential equipment. On top of that I recall the contractors who do provide parts charging the government outrageous prices for parts. I recall simple pins costing about $50, something I could have got at the hardware store for under 5 bucks.
It's just as much political as it is the planning on behalf of those actually in the Marine Corps.
man I feel like I hear about this happening every other week
Burying tanks in the desert
How is that shit not illegal? Normally I’d try to avoid assumptions, but is this the end result of defense contractors bribing lobbying Congress or something?
Well part of it is understandable. If you're a defense contractor providing parts for say Humvees, that means you need to have EVERY part available at a moment's notice. So the more expensive things like engines and chasis need to be on hand, even though they're not requested often. In order to maintain that kind of overhead they have to make up for it in the small parts, which is part of the reason why things are so expensive.
However, I'm pretty certain there's a lot of price gouging that goes beyond that and some backroom deals that maintain it.
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