[Milsurplus] "Your Tax Dollars At Work", continued.

[Peter Gottlieb]

I have heard of this with respect to aircraft.  When the engines are upgraded in 
a fleet, all spares and tools are scrapped.  The idea being that every procedure 
is highly documented and they wanted only the proscribed set of tools used in 
the shop, even if 90% of the tools are identical it is considered safer to start 
from scratch.  I don't know if this is still happening, the story came from a 
mechanic about 25-30 years ago.  I could easily imagine a lot of tools escaping 
this process as it seems unlikely someone would inventory everything going for 
scrap.


On 9/18/2017 7:07 PM, Hubert Miller wrote:
>
> A co-worker of mine told me this about his Coast Guard experience of some 20 – 
> 15 years ago. Of course such things only could occur in remote, benighted  sites
>
> in coastal Oregon,  certainly not Alaska, California, Michigan, New York, or 
> any other place:
>
> "My first day on the job, a fellow came and said, 'Come with me; I need a 
> witness.'  This 44 foot rescue boat had a brass clock, a nice one about 6 
> inches diameter,
>
> they replaced it with a newer clock. The old one was nice, would have been 
> expensive at an antique or curio store. He took a hammer and pounded the clock til
>
> it was smashed. Then he wrote it off in a book. We did what we had to.
>
> "I was in charge of survival. Every year I was given several thousands of 
> dollars to spend, and I had to spend it all. I bought more 'Mustang' survival 
> suits and soon
>
> there wasn’t any place to hang more up, so we cut up the older ones and threw 
> them away, unused ones. This was just my little department; this went on in all
>
> the other departments too.
>
> "We had a 'morale boat'. A 16 foot fishing boat the Coast Guard would rent to 
> us  [ Coast Guards ] for $4.00 a day. We got a newer boat. So we took the old boat
>
> and cut it in half, it was fiberglass, and took it to the dump. We couldn't 
> sell it – that's all too much work, too much paper.
>
> "Onboard the 370 foot vessels, the same kinda thing goes on. They get a new 
> Snap-On toolset, the old set goes over the side".
>
> Such were the outrages that took place in the old, ignorant Dark Ages. We know 
> the Federal government is financially a responsible actor, respects every 
> dollar of
>
> the taxes demanded  from us, and that Federal employees are conscientious 
> souls with the public interest foremost. Certainly the times of such waste are 
> over and
>
> such isolated examples can never again occur.
>
> Yes, I want to stir things up. A paper copy of this will go to the head of the 
> Coast Guard, as well as any political figures I reckon might be stirred to 
> action.
>
> A paper copy, so it's harder to just push a button and delete.
>
> -Hue Miller
>
>
>
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