[R-390] Surplus Recalls! (was: Is this the beginning of the end?)

[Flowertime01 at wmconnect.com]

Dave,

I see all three of your points and see some merit in each of them.

Like you say the military and commercial items may not work and play well on 
frequency. Someone may be trying to expand and grow some second world military 
assets as well. The cost to buy and refurbish used gear is still less than 
the cost to buy all new gear.

Someone would kick the low cost maintenance can ahead another year rather 
than start down a new path to buy all new gear.

Can you even get new gear?

So fine, today twenty some rice box makers are ready to wave solder any board 
you want this year and get it into the plastic box of your design choice. 

Nice.

Now what do you do for spare parts for the next 50 plus years.
How do you deploy the new asset?
How do you train the old operators on the new asset?
How do you get the new asset maintained?

So few people have an appreciation of the cost of getting change into the 
military system.

A GI any where on earth just cannot pick up his cell phone, call radio shack 
and get a new set of batteries delivered via UPS in three days. It is a nice 
theory but there are places here in the United States that still do not have 
cell phone service and there are GI's in those locations who need support.

Just like Wal Mart the Military has a distribution system. If you cannot get 
it delivered to a Wal Mart store through the Wal Mart trucking fleet then you 
cannot get it sold in a Wal Mart store. Likewise if you cannot get items 
delivered through the military logistics services, then the items are not military 
spare parts.

What ever you have may be exactly the same thing. But its the supply 
logistics and payment for items from the logistics source that detail many purchase 
decisions. If you cannot sign up to deliver the same part any time any amount on 
any schedule for the next decade, then you are not in the military supply 
source business.

It is not the product, it the way the business of military support is done.

Few people understand what it really cost to change military models. Be it 
coffee grounds, rifles, trucks or radios.

Roger.