THE BEST TIME TO BUILD UP YOUR DETERRENCE IS LONG BEFORE YOU NEED IT; THE NEXT-BEST TIME IS RIGHT NOW: Now That the Whole World Knows We’re Low on Ammunition, Frantic Effort to Re-Arm Commences.
We go through something like this every time we find ourselves at war, or just having to help supply one — and yet we never learn. As CDR Salamander noted about our acquisitions in this must-read piece about the Pacific theater:
This whole struggle – one that has been going on for a long time – is emblematic of a larger problem that our nation has with its acquisition system – bureaucratic, self-serving, and bloated – that acts not like it is there to serve the military, but the military is there to serve it and its holy processes. It is proud, selfish and insecure. It doubles down on prior bad decision, and responds with jealous rage should any good idea come from elsewhere.