[Milsurplus] Re: Military manuals wastage

[Hue Miller]

> When they closed the Navy base at Charleston SC, I tried to get some 
> manuals from their technical library. All manuals were shredded. They had a 
> guard at the door to ensure that no manual left. What a waste of taxpayer 
> money. This was all manuals classified or not. I suspect that this happened 
> on other bases also.
> 
> 73  Glenn WB4UIV

I recently bought maybe a hundred some ex-US Army manuals from an estate
disposal. The base where this gentleman worked, the policy was to destroy the
manuals, burn them i think i was told, when a newer edition manual was issued,
or when the equipment itself became obsoleted. Instead, this gentleman took
the manuals for himself.  So by not mindlessly doing his "duty", he is to be 
thanked by me and for possibly future generations for saving these manuals.
There really is a socially valuable role for the "saver"  ( as long as he's not saving
old food boxes, newspapers, etc. hi hi. )
Which as Glenn points out, WE citizens have already paid for.
WHY would this organization, the US Army, think a manual such as "Theory of
Quartz Crystals" should be destroyed????
I think the larger an organization becomes, the dumber it gets. I have saved 
manuals and power supplies from the dumpster at my own employer- i'm sure
the same wastage goes on all across the board. -Hue Miller