[Milsurplus] Your Tax Dollars At Work, part nnnnnn

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Sat, Mar 11, 2017 at 4:59 PM, Hubert Miller <Kargo_cult at msn.com> wrote:

>
> WHY would the military discard value in this way? I do not get it; seems
> to contravene logic. I suppose profit-loss is just a foreign concept when
>
> you have a fixed allocation.
>

Nick hit some of the reasons Hue, the others probably have to do with cost
and potential cost, as in liability.

First, keep in mind that government is anything but efficient. And our
current version is a bloated sloth. Expecting them to be able to set up and
manage anything in a fiscally-responsible (much less profitable) manner is
wishful thinking. Between the cost of the people involved, the red tape,
multiple forms, transportation, etc etc, they'd lose money. Hell, they'd
start losing money just talking about it in committee.

Then you have the potential costs of liability if anything goes wrong. In
our litigious P.C. society when no one is responsible for their actions
anymore and inanimate objects are the cause for problems, it becomes a
whole lot easier just to say 'screw it, dump 'em in the ocean'.

Somewhere I have a photo of a massive barge out at sea. Running down each
side of the barge are rows of M48 tanks if I'm remembering correctly. In
the center between the rows is a large commercial bucket loader, pushing
one of the tanks backward over the side. Well, maybe they were making an
artificial reef? Who knows, but I remember thinking, what a waste. Sure,
there's not a big call for old tanks but why weren't they at least being
scrapped or 'recycled'? Probably due to the cost of demil'ing and whatever
else. Maybe they were considered somehow contaminated/toxic and clean up
for scrap sale was deemed too costly.

Kicking R-649s out the door of a Sikorsky would be a child's errand in
comparison, a run to the corner store. I'm with you and I'm sure many
others here in wanting to see these old relics preserved. Sadly we are but
a tiny sliver of an even tinier group of hobbyists and preservationists.
Most folks could care less.

~ Todd, KA1KAQ/4
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/milsurplus/attachments/20170312/a139389d/attachment.html>